Angelina Jolie is offering to talk about her experience with domestic violence in her ongoing divorce and custody battle with ex-husband Brad Pitt.
In new legal documents, obtained by The Blast, the actress and director is offering “proof and authority” in support of alleged fights during her marriage as the former couple hashes out final custody and financial arrangements. Jolie’s request to share her recollections comes almost five years after the stars parted and a federal investigation was launched by the FBI and social services in Los Angeles amid reports Pitt became “verbally abusive” with his kids during a flight.
Pitt was cleared of the allegations that he abused the pair’s eldest adopted child, Maddox.
As well as detailing Angelina’s domestic abuse claims, the new documents reveal legal teams are also seeking permission from the couple for their biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne, to testify at trial.
The private proceedings will reportedly feature members of the the couple’s former security staff, personal assistants, and multiple child psychologists, as well as domestic violence expert Alyce LaViolette and Jolie’s friend and Girl, Interrupted co-star Jillian Armenante.
Pitt and Jolie met on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004, and were married a decade later. The pair separated in September 2016 after two years of marriage, and have undergone a bifurcation process, meaning they were declared legally single in April 2019, but specific terms of their divorce have not been finalised. Jolie cited irreconcilable differences as the cause for their split.