‘They are desperate for this to end’ – inside Brad and Angelina’s divorce from hell
IN SEPTEMBER 2016, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, signalling the end of the love story between the world’s most photogenic couple. And yet, exactly four years on, the dispute between the Oscar-winning actors shows no sign of resolution, and one of the most convoluted and long-winded divorces in Hollywood history continues to hit new obstacles.
At the beginning of August, Angelina’s legal team filed new documents that called for the removal of the judge overseeing the case. Their argument being that Judge John Ouderkirk, who presided over the couple’s 2014 wedding, may be biased toward Brad. Angelina’s team cited previous work and an ongoing professional and financial relationship between the judge and Anne C Kiley, Brad’s lawyer, claiming that ‘something untoward was happening’. Brad’s team dismissed the complaint as ‘a thinly veiled attempt by Jolie to delay the adjudication of long-pending custody issues in this case’.
It is just the latest complication in a lengthy process that has taken its toll on all involved. Angelina has said that the split was ‘the right decision’, made ‘for the wellbeing of my family’. Brad, meanwhile, appeared to address the animosity in an acceptance speech earlier this year, in which he joked that his performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – ‘as a guy who takes his shirt off, gets high and doesn’t get on with his wife’ was ‘a big stretch’.
The four-year dispute may have been ugly, but comes down to a core concern: the happiness of their children (eldest son Maddox is at university, but the couple have five children under 16). For the acrimonious pair, there is a crucial difference of opinion: Brad is happy with his life in California, but Angelina would like to live in Europe – with recent reports suggesting she’s been doing some virtual househunting in Richmond. ‘Angelina is tired of LA and feels like she’s stuck there,’ a source explains, ‘but Brad argues it would be unworkable for him to fly overseas or have them living with their respective parents for months at a time.’
There was a point where an end seemed in sight, when lockdown meant that Angelina’s extended periods of travel with the children became impossible. Brad visited her Hollywood home and stayed for several hours. ‘Brad went over twice a week for three or four weeks,’ a source says. ‘They were cordial, but it didn’t amount to much.’ Indeed, Angelina’s latest complaints came mere weeks after Brad was last spotted leaving her house on his motorbike.
Brad’s team may argue that Angelina’s latest efforts aim to draw out the difficult process, but a source says that they truly want the ordeal to be over. ‘They are both desperate for this to end – not just so they can get on with their lives in peace, but also because this is costing them both an absolute fortune.’ They have, the insider says, ‘spent hundreds of thousands on legal bills’, and every objection or new motion adds weeks, and eye-watering costs, to proceedings.
Last year, the courts ruled that Brad and Angelina were legally single, meaning that they were free to pursue other relationships. Angelina has remained unattached while rumours linked Brad with actress Alia Shawkat, and there was much excitement last week when he and ex-wife Jennifer Aniston both took part in a virtual charity event, showing again that they are back on great terms. But, as this particular saga runs and runs, it’s clear that Brad and Angelina are nowhere near finished in manoeuvring Hollywood’s ugliest split.