Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been locked in a messy court battle ever since she filed for divorce in September 2016, but the pair were not always at odds.
The Oscar winners fell for each other while filming the 2005 action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The origination of their relationship instantly caused controversy since Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time.
The Friends alum and the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star announced their separation in January 2005. She filed for divorce the following March, and the proceedings were finalized in October 2005.
“We spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking and talking about what we both wanted in life and realized that we wanted very, very similar things,” Jolie told Vogue in January 2007. “And then we just continued to take time. We remained very, very good friends — with this realization — for a long time. And then life developed in a way where we could be together, where it felt like something we would do, we should do.”
Pitt and the Salt star became serious rather quickly, with her confirming her pregnancy with their first child in January 2006. He formally adopted her son Maddox and daughter Zahara in 2006, and their children took on the surname Jolie-Pitt.
The couple welcomed Shiloh in May 2006. The Maleficent actress adopted son Pax in March 2007, while the actor followed suit in February 2008. Their twins, son Knox and daughter Vivienne, were born in July 2008.
“One of the greatest, smartest things I ever did was give my kids Angie as their mom,” he gushed to Parade in September 2011. “She’s such a great mom. Oh, man, I’m so happy to have her. With a partner like Angie, I know that when I’m working, the kids are happy, safe and prospering. And when Angie’s working, she knows she has the same.”
Jolie and Pitt announced their engagement in April 2012. They tied the knot in France in August 2014. However, Brangelina called it quits in September 2016.
Scroll down to rediscover how Pitt and Jolie’s post-split relationship became so contentious.
The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider star filed for divorce after two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. She requested sole physical custody of their six children. “This decision was made for the health of the family,” her rep told Us Weekly in a statement at the time.
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An altercation on the duo’s private jet led to a child abuse investigation into Pitt. “He got drunk and was fighting with Angie,” a source claimed. “Maddox stepped in to defend Angie and got in Brad’s face.”
The Fight Club actor was cleared of the allegations in November 2016.
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The By the Sea costars reached a temporary custody agreement one week after their separation. She received full physical custody, while he was granted visitation rights. They were both ordered to undergo individual counseling as well as attend family counseling with their kids. He was subjected to random drug and alcohol testing at the time too.
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Pitt sought joint physical and legal custody of the children in his response to Jolie’s divorce filing. While Maddox initially refused to see his father, they reunited in October 2016 as their relationship remained strained.
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The Girl, Interrupted star opened up about the divorce in a BBC interview. “I don’t want to say very much about [the incident] except to say that it was a very difficult time and we are a family. And we’ll always be a family,” she said, growing emotional. “And we’ll get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it.”
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Us confirmed that Jolie and Pitt were speaking again after their split. “They are in a place where they can put anger or hurt aside to focus on their children and how they plan to coparent,” a source revealed, while another insider added: “They are only speaking about the kids but have agreed that the kids’ best interest comes first and that they will be civil to one another.”
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The Ad Astra actor got real about the aftermath of the split nearly one year later. “I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called,” he admitted to GQ Style. “And you know, after that, we’ve been able to work together to sort this out. We’re both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, ‘No one wins in court — it’s just a matter of who gets hurt worse.’ And it seems to be true. You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you’re right and why they’re wrong, and it’s just an investment in vitriolic hatred.”
He continued: “Fortunately my partner in this agrees. It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart. If anyone can make sense of it, we have to with great care and delicacy, building everything around that. … Our focus is that everyone come out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome. I see it happen to friends — I see where the one spouse literally can’t tell their own part in it, and it’s still competing with the other in some way and wants to destroy them, and needs vindication by destruction, and just wasting years on that hatred. I don’t want to live that way.”
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Pitt and Jolie reached a temporary custody agreement for summer 2018 after the court decided that “not having a relationship with their father” would be “harmful” to the children. The court determined the kids “are safe with their father” too. Maddox, due to his age, was free to stay with either parent.
The Emmy winner had physical custody during portions of the summer and was required to spend time with the children with a psychologist present.
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Jolie’s attorney claimed in a filing that Pitt had “paid no meaningful child support since separation” as of August 2018. In response, his lawyer noted that “[Pitt] adamantly disputes the contention that he has not paid significant child support. [Pitt] has previously loaned [Jolie] $8 million to assist her in purchasing her current residence and has paid over $1.3 million in bills for the benefit of [Jolie] and the minor children.”
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The estranged duo avoided going to trial over custody by reaching a new agreement. “Brad and Angelina will have joint physical and legal custody of the children,” a source close to Pitt told Us at the time. “Over a period of the next six to eight weeks, the monitored visits will come to a conclusion. The children will immediately begin to have overnight visits with their father.”
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Jolie and Pitt filed for a bifurcated judgment, which meant they were deemed legally single though their divorce continued.
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“Brad is enjoying spending more time with the kids and things have been improving with the four younger kids,” an insider revealed in June 2019. “Brad and Angie have been coparenting, utilizing OurFamilyWizard, which has probably been one of the most beneficial tools for their family in terms of keeping things moving forward in the best amicable terms possible. … Once Brad and Angie began using the platform, it allowed them to coordinate the kids’ schedules. They have very busy lives.”
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The French chateau where they wed caused more problems in the divorce settlement. “The sticking point is the value of Miraval,” a source said. “Angelina wants to be awarded the property as hers entirely because it was her idea to purchase the property to begin with.” However, Pitt believed he’d been “more than generous with other financial elements.”
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Jolie admitted to Harper’s Bazaar in November 2019 that she “would love to live abroad and will do so as soon as my children are 18” because at the moment, she was “having to base where their father chooses to live.”
According to an insider, Pitt “doesn’t want them living in another country where he’d never get to see them unless he flew there.” On the other hand, the director would “like to move around — Europe, Asia, Africa.”
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The exes seemed to be on good terms as of May 2020. “Things between Brad and Angelina are better than they have been,” a source said. “They’re more cordial — they’re aiming toward resolutions that work for each of them.”
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Us exclusively reported in July 2020 that their legal proceedings were “slowed down” by the COVID-19 pandemic. “They are continuing regular visits but there has not been a lot of progress in terms of resolving anything,” an insider told Us as Pitt was spotted visiting the children at Jolie’s home.
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Jolie requested to disqualify the judge in their custody trial. “Unfortunately, the individuals hurt most by Jolie’s transparently tactical gambit are the parties’ own children, who continue to be deprived of a final resolution to these custody issues,” Pitt’s lawyers said in court documents obtained by Us.
“Brad says Angelina has gone way too far this time,” a source revealed. “He’s left with no other option but to dig in and fight back — hard.”
However, Jolie’s lawyer told Us, “All my client is asking for is a fair trial based on facts, with no special favors extended to either side.” Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, added that the Tourist actress believed the judge handling the proceedings was “biased in Brad’s favor” due to their personal connections.
In court documents obtained by Us, Jolie’s attorney went so far as to accuse Pitt’s legal team of going “behind her back” to cover up judicial bias.
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As the legal battle between the Mr. and Mrs. Smith costars continued, Jolie asked for their judge, John W. Ouderkirk, to be disqualified from overseeing their case after failing to disclose "ongoing business and professional relationships" with Pitt and his team. In a response filed to the court in August, Ouderkirk asserted that he "can and will remain impartial" in the actors' case and that Jolie had "clearly failed" to prove that he had shown any sort of special treatment in Pitt's favor.
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As the custody battle continued, news broke that Pitt had a new love in his life. He was spotted with German model Nicole Poturalski in August 2020.
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A source revealed that tensions had significantly "escalated between Brad and Angelina, with family therapy no longer taking place" as they prepared for their October 2020 custody trial. While the Fight Club actor was hoping to negotiate "50/50 joint physical and legal custody of the kids," the insider told Us that Jolie had been "unagreeable to those terms."
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The Girl, Interrupted actress reflected on her tumultuous divorce during an interview with British Vogue, admitting that it's "been pretty hard" to navigate. "I've been focusing on healing our family. It's slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body," she said at the time.
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Court documents obtained by Us amid the duo's messy divorce alleged incidents of domestic violence. In her filing, Jolie claimed that her children were willing to share "proof and authority in support" of the accusations against Pitt, which a source viewed as nothing more than an attempt to "hurt" the Troy actor. "Over the past four and a half years there have been a number of claims made by Angelina that have been reviewed and not substantiated," the insider said. "The children have been used by Angelina to hurt Brad before and this is more of that behavior."
A separate source later revealed that Maddox, the pair's eldest son, had already provided his testimony to the court. "It wasn't very flattering toward Brad," the source added.
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The Those Who Wish Me Dead actress claimed in court documents that the judge presiding over her divorce case refused to hear evidence from her children regarding Pitt's alleged history of domestic violence, claiming that awarding joint custody would not be in the kids' best interests. Despite her testimony, a judge ruled in favor of Pitt and issued a tentative ruling for the exes to share time with their children.
Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock; Rob Latour/Shutterstockfrom Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3aGWnJc
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