Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, ending one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history, but it doesn’t resolve all the legal issues between the two.
Jolie and Pitt signed a declaration of default filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, saying they have entered into a written agreement regarding their marital and property rights. The agreement was first reported in People magazine.
Jolie’s attorney, James Simon, said in a statement, “Angelina filed for divorce from Pitt over eight years ago.” “She and the children left all the property they shared with Mr. Pitt and since then she has focused on finding peace and healing for her family. This is just part of a long process that started eight years ago. “To be honest, Angelina is exhausted but relieved that this part of her life is over.”
The documents say he waived his right to future spousal financial support, but provide no other details. A judge must sign the agreement. An email sent to Pitt’s attorney late Monday night was not immediately answered.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, have been one of Hollywood’s most recognizable couples for 12 years, two of them married. The Oscar winners have six children.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 after alleging that Pitt had physically abused her and their children during a private plane ride from Europe. FBI and Children’s Services officials investigated Pitt’s behavior during the flight. Two months later, the FBI issued a statement saying it would not investigate further, and the U.S. attorney did not file charges.
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A heavily redacted FBI report obtained by The Associated Press from 2022 says an agent provided prosecutors with a probable cause statement against Pitt, but after discussing the merits, “all parties agreed not to file criminal charges.”
The documents say Jolie was “personally conflicted” about substantiating the charges and said in a later court filing that she decided not to press charges for the sake of her family.
A source familiar with the Children’s Services investigation told The Associated Press in 2016 that the Children’s Services investigation was closed without any findings of abuse.
In 2019, a judge declared that Jolie and Pitt were divorced and unmarried, but division of assets and child custody had to be resolved separately.
Soon after, the private judge the couple hired to handle the case issued a decision that included equal custody of the children, but Jolie filed a motion to have him removed from the case, citing an unreported conflict of interest. The appeals court agreed, removing the judge and reversing his decision. The couple had to start the process over again.
After a long divorce battle, the four children became adults and a custody agreement was no longer needed. The only remaining minors are 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivian. Last June, one of their daughters, then known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, successfully petitioned to have Pitt’s name removed from her own.
Using a private judge, an increasingly common move among celebrities who have split in recent years, has kept details of their divorces largely secret. For nearly a year, there has been no formal court action in the case, and no indication that the two are close to reaching a settlement.
However, some elements of the dispute emerged in a separate lawsuit filed by Pitt over Jolie’s sale of half of a French winery he owned. Pete said he wanted to buy half of his winery, Chateau Miraval, but gave up on negotiations and sold his portion to the Tenute del Mondo wine group. Pitt said it was a ‘retaliatory’ and ‘illegal’ move that should not have been made without his consent and that it had ruined the private space of his second home.
Jolie and her lawyers said Pitt had demanded she sign an extensive non-disclosure agreement about her as part of the proposed deal in an attempt to cover up his abuse of her and the children.
The divorce settlement will not affect the winery’s lawsuit, and the legal battle between the two stars could continue.
Publicly, Pitt and Jolie have been extremely tight-lipped about everything surrounding their split, despite strong promotional tours for their various projects.
In an interview with GQ in 2017, Pitt said that he had a drinking problem at the time of the plane crash and their breakup, but that he has since quit drinking and is receiving treatment. He did not defend his actions during the family flight.
The two were among the most elite stars in film when they started dating in 2004. And Mrs. Smith’ and remained in the top ranks of Hollywood’s A-list throughout the couple’s relationship. Jolie, who starred in “Maleficent” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” won an Oscar for her performance in 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted.”
Pitt, star of ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ has found success as both an actor and producer since their breakup. He appeared in ‘Once Upon a Time…’ in 2019. He won an Academy Award for ‘In Hollywood’. It’s the crowning achievement of an awards season that some media outlets have described as a reward and has sparked great public love for it.
Jolie maintained a less visible profile in the years following her divorce, but continued to direct and appear in several films while focusing on raising her children. She returned often to the Oscar conversation this year for her role as legendary soprano Maria Callas in “Maria.”
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