UNITED STATES: Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt more than six years ago, but unsettling new allegations regarding Pitt’s behaviour have only lately surfaced.
In a recent lawsuit involving their wine firm, Jolie has filed a fresh complaint against Pitt in which she describes physical abuse directed at her and their children.
Jolie claims in the countersuit that Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” while they were on a private flight from Nice, France, to the United States in September 2016. She also claims that Pitt “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her.”
She claims that during the journey from France to Los Angeles, Pitt again verbally attacked and poured beer on her family. He disputes the accusations.
Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, alleging irreconcilable differences, six days after that trip. Shortly after filing, there were rumours and allegations that Pitt was being looked into for allegedly abusing children, maybe because of his alcohol addiction.
The FBI had jurisdiction because it was a private aeroplane, so they looked into what took place on board. Later that year, the group exonerated Pitt.
A lawsuit demanding the release of the FBI’s findings was filed in secret in April 2022; it was later discovered that Jolie was the plaintiff.
News organisations were able to access those records in August. Jolie stated to FBI officials in those papers that Pitt “grabbed her by the head” and “pushed her into the bathroom wall.”
Jolie provided photos of the injuries she claimed to have sustained during the investigation, and tabloids later acquired these photos.
Even still, the FBI claimed that it had not discovered any criminality on Pitt’s part. “It was agreed by all parties that criminal charges in this matter would not be pursued due to many considerations,” the group said.
After starring together in the movie Mr and Mrs Smith in 2005, Pitt and Jolie started dating. Pitt was still married to Friends actress Jennifer Aniston at the time of filming. After years of making tabloid headlines, the pair wed in 2014.
Jolie and Pitt have been involved in several legal battles and custody hearings since Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. With disputes in the media, their breakup has been veiled in some mystery.
Pitt revealed to GQ in 2016 that he had stopped drinking in response to the allegations regarding his drinking and alleged violent behaviour. In a lawsuit she filed in 2018, Jolie charged Pitt with failing to provide “meaningful” child support. They received permission to dissolve their marriage in 2019.
Pitt and Jolie have been at odds for the majority of 2022 over the Château Miraval vineyard they once shared (Jolie sold her share of the estate to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without Pitt’s consent).
According to Jolie’s lawyers, one of Pitt’s demands during their discussions was that she sign a nondisclosure agreement, which would have prevented her from discussing his allegedly violent behaviour.
The two are still fighting over custody of their six children; four of them, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Vivienne and Knox, are all under the age of 18. Pitt recently complained about heartbreak in a June cover story for British GQ.
To Jolie’s most recent complaint, neither Pitt nor his attorneys have responded.
The impact of these charges on Pitt’s career is still uncertain; up to this point, rumours and allegations have not appeared to have much of an effect on how the public perceives Pitt.
Even in the post-Me To era, Constance Grady noted during the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial, increased scrutiny of celebrities hasn’t caused any fallout for A-list male stars, despite how different this escalation feels.
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