The split came as a shock to fans, and Pitt and Jolie had long been regarded as one of Hollywood’s most stable A-list couples.

Even more surprising, however, was the news that followed:

It seems that shortly after Jolie moved out of the home they shared and took the kids, Pitt was investigated for child abuse. 

Insiders claimed that the investigation stemmed from an altercation between Pitt and his 15-year-old, Maddox.

As the incident took place aboard a mid-air flight, the matter was turned over to the FBI.

The case was eventually dropped, but not before tabloid headlines about Pitt’s alleged child abuse did immeasurable damage to his reputation.

Now, it looks as though the screen icon might be preparing to fight back, clear his name, and give his ex a taste of her own medicine in the process.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Pitt was in possession of a “bombshell” tape that would prove damaging to Jolie’s custody case.

Specifics were scarce, but now, Radar Online claims to have uncovered the truth about the tape’s contents.

According to the site, the recording contains the communications between the plane’s pilot and the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center.

Apparently, it reveals that no incident worth reporting to ground control occurred while the Jolie-Pitts were on board that day.

Given that earlier reports had Pitt physically fighting his son and then drunkenly urinating on the tarmac after the private jet touched down it’s tough to imagine that the pilot wouldn’t have shared any of it with the ground crew.

Now that the investigation is concluded and whatever did happen aboard the flight is no longer a criminal matter, we may never know exactly what led Jolie to file for divorce just days later.

But you can bet that the formerly one-sided Jolie-Pitt custody battle is about to be a lot more hotly contested.

This situation started out unexpectedly ugly, and all signs pointing it getting worse from here.