IT’S NOT OVER YET!
Ange & Brad’s custody clash
Their marriage lasted two years and their bitter divorce has dragged on for four years and eight months. Yet there is still no end in sight for soured lovebirds Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Last month it seemed
Brad had reason to pop the champagne when he won long-term 50/50 custody of his five youngest children, aged between 12 and 17.
But days later – furious that Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 12, weren’t allowed to testify in court – Angelina applied to have the couple’s family court judge thrown off the case. If she succeeds, it will result in
the custody decision being overturned and the couple will be back to square one.
“This has turned into the Godzilla of Hollywood divorce cases,” says an insider. “They haven’t even started negotiating the separation of their financial assets yet. Brad and Ange are still fighting tooth-and-nail over the kids and their legal bills have run into many, many millions of dollars.”
Fury star Brad, 57, has added a new top-drawer attorney to his legal team to help fight Angelina’s latest move, with the matter due to come before the appeal court in California on July 9.
“July is going to be very
important,” says a source. “If the judge is kept in place, then the ruling stands. If the judge is not, then the ruling is vacant and we start all over again.”
It’s all a far cry from the Hollywood A-listers’ romantic August 2014 wedding at their chateau in the south of France, where their large brood joyfully decorated the bride’s veil with multi-coloured doodles.
To the world, it seemed as if the Jolie-Pitts had it all: fame, fortune, a blissful romance and the adoration of their large family. But just two years later, on September 14, 2016, it all came crumbling down when the family was sitting in their private jet on a runway in Minnesota.
They were on their way home from Nice in France to Los Angeles and were refuelling their aircraft when Brad and eldest son Maddox, now 19, got into a fight.
One source claims that
Brad and Angelina were arguing and Maddox intervened to defend his mother verbally.
Days later, Angelina filed for divorce. Both the FBI and the Department of Children and Family Services investigated the incident and neither believed Brad posed a danger to his children.
However, since walking away from her marriage, Maleficent star Angelina, 46, has been adamant that she wants full
custody of the kids. Brad, meanwhile, has been steadfastly insisting on a 50/50 child sharing arrangement.
The custody hearings have all been conducted in private and all documents relating to them are filed under seal, which means they are not open to public scrutiny.
Earlier this year, however, it’s believed that Maddox, who’s legally an adult and not part of the custody dispute, testified against his father. “It wasn’t very flattering,” shares a well-placed insider.
And it’s understood that Angelina desperately wanted Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox to also take part in the court proceedings.
The judge, however, did not allow them to go through the harrowing process and Angelina has wasted no time in launching a bid to disqualify the judge from the case, saying in a recent court filing that he had refused to hear the children’s “input as to their experiences, needs or wishes as to their custody fate”.
She also complained that the judge had declined to hear evidence that she believes is relevant to the children’s safety and wellbeing.
Brad, however, has responded through his lawyers that the judge found Angelina’s testimony “lacked credibility in many important areas” and that Angelina’s objections would “work grave harm upon the children, who will be further denied permanence and stability.”
Says a source, “Angelina says that the kids didn’t speak in court. The point is that the kids spoke to their therapists in proper situations and settings. They were evaluated and this was then reported into the court.
“There is no perfect situation for something as difficult as this, but they were spoken with by professionals. It is well known in the industry that you never want the kids to testify in court. That is the last thing anyone should want.”
For now, all Brad and
Angelina can do is count down the days to their July court hearing.
“All Brad ever wanted was joint custody,” adds the source. “Brad cares tremendously about his kids and he wants the best for them. He just wants to spend as much time with them as possible.” #
‘The kids were spoken with by professionals. You never want kids to testify in court’