In recent times, it has become more popular for famous couples to use a private judge during their divorce proceedings, allowing them to keep the details of their divorce private.
After a prolonged and highly disputed separation, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have finally come to a divorce agreement which marks the end of one of Hollywood’s most drawn-out divorces. However, there are still some legal matters unresolved between the two.
The formal agreement between Jolie and Pitt was recorded in a default declaration that was submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court, confirming that they have reached a mutual understanding regarding their marriage and property rights. The settlement was initially disclosed by People magazine.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt,” Jolie’s attorney, James Simon, said in a statement. “She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
The filing says they give up the right to any future spousal financial support, but gives no other details. A judge will need to sign off on the agreement. An email late Monday night to Pitt’s attorney seeking comment was not immediately answered.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, were among Hollywood’s most prominent pairings for 12 years, two of them as a married couple. The Oscar winners have six children together.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, after a private jet flight from Europe during which she said Pitt physically abused her and their children. The FBI and child services officials investigated Pitt’s actions on the flight. Two months later, the FBI released a statement saying it would not investigate further, and the U.S. attorney did not bring charges.
A heavily redacted FBI report obtained by The Associated Press in 2022 said that an agent provided a probable cause statement to prosecutors on Pitt, but that after discussing the merits, “it was agreed by all parties that criminal charges would not be pursued.”
The document said Jolie was “personally conflicted” about supporting charges, and in a later court filing she said she opted not to push for them for the sake of the family.
A source familiar with the child services inquiry told the AP in 2016 that the child services investigation was closed without a finding of abuse.
A judge in 2019 declared Jolie and Pitt divorced and single, but the splitting of assets and child custody needed to be separately settled.
Soon after, a private judge that the two had hired to handle the case reached a decision that included equal custody of their children, but Jolie filed to have him removed from the case over an unreported conflict of interest. An appeals court agreed, removing the judge and vacating his decision. The couple had to start the process over.
During the long divorce fight, four of their children became adults, negating the need for a custody agreement for them. The only minors that remain are 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. In June, one of their daughters, then known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, successfully petitioned to remove Pitt’s name from hers.
The couple’s use of the private judge — an increasingly common move among splitting celebrities in recent years — has kept the details of the divorce largely under wraps. There had been no official court actions in the case in nearly a year, and no indication that the two were near agreement.
Some elements of their disputes, however, have been revealed through a separate lawsuit filed by Pitt over Jolie’s sale of her half of a French winery they owned. Pitt had wanted to buy her half of the winery, Chateau Miraval, and said she abandoned their negotiations and sold her part to the Tenute del Mondo wine group. Pitt said it was a “vindictive” and “unlawful” move that should not have been made without his consent and ruined a private space that had been a second home.
Jolie and her attorneys said that Pitt had demanded she sign a wide-ranging non-disclosure agreement about him as part of the proposed deal that was an attempt to cover up his abuse of her and the children.
The divorce agreement does not affect the winery lawsuit, where the legal battle between the two stars could continue.
Publicly, both Pitt and Jolie have been extremely tight-lipped on everything surrounding their split, despite robust promotional tours for various projects.
Pitt said in a 2017 interview with GQ that he had had a drinking problem at the time of the plane incident and the split, but had since become sober and was going to therapy. He has not defended his behavior on the family flight.
Both were among the most elite stars in film when they began dating in 2004, after co-starring as hitman-and-hitwoman spouses in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and remained atop the Hollywood A-list throughout their coupling. The star of “Maleficent” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” Jolie won an Oscar for her performance in 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted.”
Pitt, the star of “Fight Club” and “Inglourious Basterds,” thrived as both actor and producer after the split. He won his own Academy Award for 2019’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” the crowning achievement in an awards season that some in media framed as a redemption and brought major public affection for him.
Jolie kept a less visible profile in the years since the divorce, though she directed several films and appeared in several more while trying to focus on raising the children. She has very much returned to the Oscar conversation this year for her portrayal of the legendary soprano Maria Callas in “Maria.”
