This Is Apparently Why Angelina Jolie Won’t Tell “Public Stories” About Brad Pitt — Despite Their Kids Allegedly Wanting Her To “Defend Herself” Amid Their Divorce

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Angelina filed for divorce from Brad way back in 2016 following an alleged altercation on a private jet involving the couple and their six children.

Daniele Venturelli / Getty Images, Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images

For a quick reminder, Brad and Angelina started dating back in 2005 after meeting on the set of their movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. They didn’t get married until August 2014, when they tied the knot in front of just 20 guests, including their six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Vivienne and Knox.

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Barely two years later, the marriage came crumbling down when Angelina filed for divorce on Sept. 19, 2016 — days after an alleged altercation on a private jet where Brad was accused of physically and verbally assaulting Angelina and Maddox, who was 15 years old at the time.

A couple on the red carpet; woman in a strapless, beaded gown; man in a tuxedo with a bow tie; AFI Fest backdrop

This brings us to Dec. 30, 2024, when the couple’s divorce battle finally concluded after eight years of intense legal fighting. Angelina’s lawyer, James Simon, said in a statement that the Oscar-winning actor is “exhausted” but “relieved” that “this one part is over.”

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A divorce battle of this length is pretty unconventional, even by Hollywood standards. And while neither Brad nor Angelina have talked in great detail about the split, we do know that the legal dissolution of their marriage was complicated by the 2016 abuse allegations and several other factors relating to their shared assets and the custody of their children.

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On Dec. 30, an inside source told People that the Maleficent star “doesn’t speak ill of [Brad] publicly or privately.” And now, a subsequent report has alleged that the couple’s six kids — who are now adults, apart from the 16-year-old twins — were rooting for their mom to publicly speak out throughout the ongoing divorce.

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“They have wanted her to speak up for herself, to defend herself over these years,” an anonymous insider said of the children in a report published by People on Jan. 1. However, they suggested that Angelina found it important to choose privacy and look at the bigger picture, apparently reminding the kids to “focus on changing laws over telling public stories.”

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Angelina has put a lot of time into campaigning for human rights, particularly with regard to children’s rights. In 2021, she published a book titled Know Your Rights and Claim Them, which is described as “a resource for children and young people to learn about their rights” to give them “the knowledge they need to protect themselves and others.”

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It has been widely speculated that Brad’s relationship with his kids was left badly strained by his and Angelina’s split. He has not been seen with or spoken publicly about any of his children in years, and a source told People in July 2024 that he has “virtually no contact with the adult kids” — Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, and Shiloh, 18.

Man in a sleek black suit poses confidently on the red carpet, surrounded by photographers

Though Brad and Angelina’s children are all very private, some of them have seemingly taken measures to publicly distance themselves from their father by dropping “Pitt” from their last names.

Two celebrities posing on the red carpet. The man wears a dark suit and glasses, and the woman is in a strapless black dress

BuzzFeed has reached out to Angelina for comment. You can read the full People report here.

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