Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who were endearingly called ‘Brangelina‘ and became the power couple of Hollywood, sent shockwaves across the world when they announced their divorce. Well, technically, it was Jolie who filed for divorce from Pitt over “irreconcilable differences.” The two were together for almost 12 years and no one saw the Jolie-Pitt duo separating ever.
What was more staggering and unexpected was how ugly the divorce had turned. The struggle continued from 2016 to 2019. The court battles between the two, regarding the custody of their children and financial assets, made the power couple’s breakup one of the costliest and nastiest divorces.
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The Divorce Drama
The two Hollywood stars began their affair in 2005 after meeting on the set of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith.’ While everyone was rooting for Jennifer Aniston and Pitt to start a family, after Aniston herself had said in an interview during the wrap of the final episode of ‘Friends’ that she’d like to focus on her family now, little did anyone know that just a year later, the two would split. Aniston and Pitt filed for a divorce in a joint statement in 2005. Many suspected that Pitt had cheated on Aniston with Jolie. In 2006, speaking to Vogue, Jolie admitted that sparks flew between her and Pitt when he was still married to Aniston.
The ‘Ad Astra‘ star dated Jolie for 10 years, and in 2014, the two finally tied the knot. They even adopted two children, one son and one daughter, and had three biological children, of which two were twins. On the divorce papers, the actress cited “irreconcilable differences” and requested sole physical custody of their six children.
Since then, Pitt has been fighting legal battles against Jolie for equal custody of their children. It wasn’t until May 2021 that the Oscar winning actor finally won joint custody of his children with Angelina Jolie. A source reported to Page Six, “There was a significant change made in the custody agreements based on an extremely detailed decision made by the judge. Brad was just trying to have more time with his kids — and it has been clear that Angie has done everything possible to prevent this.”
Brad Pitt Accused Of Child Abuse
During the time of separation, Jolie’s representative told that the decision about the separation between the two “was made for the health of the family”. Later, a private jet incident came to light which charged Pitt with child abuse. They claimed that the ‘Fight Club’ actor was drinking alcohol and in the midst of that, he got into a fight with Jolie. Their eldest son, Maddox, stepped between the two to stop the fight and got into an argument with Brad.
In November 2016, Brad Pitt was cleared of child abuse by the LA County Department of Children and Family Services. It was ruled that there wasn’t “inappropriate physical contact” between them. However, as of recent reports, the contact between Maddox and Pitt has stayed “non-existent” since then.
In 2017, Jolie and Pitt were found to be on an equal footing when they released a joint statement to keep their court documents private “to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family.” Moreover, both the actors had also agreed to individual counselling. However, in August 2018, all the mutual agreements came tumbling down as Jolie accused Pitt of the lack of “meaningful” child support from his side for a year and a half. Pitt’s lawyer claimed that he’d paid Jolie over $12.45 million since their September 2016 split.
Brief Moment Of Silver Lining
With six children, Pitt and Jolie were working on their co-parenting relationship. ET reported, “Brad and Angelina actually set up a secret meeting at her house. It’s the first time they have truly gotten together to make things work since their group therapy with the children. Brad and Angie’s meeting was a success.” The source also added, “They are going to stay with the plan set forth through the courts. Angelina decided it was time to try to make things work and Brad was relieved and very ready for the offer. Brad has been dedicated to making peace throughout the process and now it finally seems like they are at a point where they can create a calmer situation for the kids.”
On April 13, 2019, Jolie and Pitt were finally ruled legally single by a judge, but the court battles and negotiations kept coming.
More To The Custody Battle
When Pitt was granted joint custody of their children in 2019, Jolie wasn’t quite happy. She even claimed that three of their children want to testify against their father but were blocked from doing so by Judge John Ouderkirk. Us Weekly reported, “Angelina feels it’s extremely important that the kids’ feelings about who they want to essentially spend time with are heard. She isn’t forcing the kids to testify. She has taken the advice of the children’s therapists. She is hopeful that going forward, with an impartial and fair judge, the children will be able to testify.”
Judge John Ouderkirk was disqualified by a three-judge panel for reasons that the Judge’s recent professional relationships with Pitt’s counsel might lead to biased judgements. The dismissal of the Judge was also to maintain “what’s best for the children.” Pitt, therefore, lost the awarded time with his children that he had previously received.
Chateau Miraval Winery Lawsuit
Angelina Jolie sold her shares worth $164 million of their Miraval Chateau, of which both had 50-50 shares in the mansion and vineyard. Pitt accused Jolie of going behind his back and selling the shares when it was an agreement settled between them that if any of them were to sell their shares, they will inform them first. Pitt alleged that Jolie didn’t receive his permission before selling her shares to the Stoli Group, and so in 2022, there arose yet another court battle between the two. The ‘World War Z‘ actor sued his ex-wife for selling her stake in the wine business, which also harmed the company’s reputation. Pitt’s legal team also released a statement saying that Miraval is the actor’s “passion” project which developed “into a multimillion-dollar global business and one of the world’s most highly regarded producers of rosé wine” through his work. Pitt also accused Jolie of contributing “nothing to Miraval’s success.” As of now, the legal dispute over the Chateau Miraval winery, where they wed in 2014, has been ruled in Jolie’s favour.
The ‘Brangelina‘ divorce has been a series of unexpected events and rising bad blood between the two. The umpteenth number of court hearings has made this celebrity couple’s divorce one of the most spent-on divorces. It is, of course, not known if Miraval Chateau was the last of the battle cases between them, or if more legal disputes between the two will keep coming up.
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