A timeline of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s long-running divorce dispute, consisting of custody battles and abuse allegations, has concluded more than eight years after the pair separated.
After the matter was settled, Jolie’s lawyer James Simon stated that the Girl, Interrupted actor was “exhausted” and “relieved this one part is over”.
Simon, confirming news of the settlement to The Associated Press, said in a statement: “More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family.
“This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago.”
Pitt and Jolie, who started dating in 2004, married in 2014 and split in 2016, share six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Vivienne and Knox.
The pair’s split culminated in two concurrent and tumultuous legal battles that saw allegations of abuse emerge, as the pair disputed over the sale of Jolie’s share in their French winery, Château Miraval. Read below to find the full breakdown of their divorce settlement as it unfolded across the years.
September 2016: Jolie files for divorce
Shortly after the pair’s second wedding anniversary, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt citing irreconcilable differences, following an alleged physical altercation onboard a private jet flying from France to Los Angeles, which led Jolie to request physical custody of their six children: sons Maddox and Pax Thien, daughters Zahara Marley and Shiloh Nouvel and twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline.
Pitt told People: “I am very saddened by this, but what matters most now is the well-being of our kids. I kindly ask the press to give them the space they deserve during this challenging time.”
April 2019: Both become legally single
While it had been three years since Jolie first filed for divorce, she and Pitt were ruled legally single by a judge in 2019 as they continued to finalise their divorce settlement, which entailed the custody of their children and financial agreements.
July 2021: Pitt loses custody case
In May 2021, Judge Ouderkirk awarded Pitt more time with his and Jolie’s five children who were minors at the time. However, that decision was reversed two months later, when Jolie’s legal team successfully petitioned a California appeals court to disqualify Judge Ouderkirk from their case, citing his failure to disclose prior business dealings with Pitt’s legal team. Pitt’s attorney dismissed the move as a stalling tactic.
September 2021: Jolie speaks about the split publicly
More than five years after filing for divorce from Pitt, Jolie told The Guardian‘s Weekend magazine about her decision to end their marriage, saying that she didn’t make the decision lightly.
“I’m not the kind of person who makes decisions like the decisions I had to make lightly. It took a lot for me to be in a position where I felt I had to separate from the father of my children.”
When asked by the publication how the last five years have impacted her, she replied: “I mean, in some ways, it’s been the last decade. There’s a lot I can’t say.”
October 2021: Jolie sells her stake in the winery she shared with Pitt
By 2021, Jolie decided to sell her shares of their French winery, Château Miraval, which they purchased together when they were a couple.
Court documents showed that Jolie was cleared to sell her shares a month prior to the sale, and Tenute del Mondo purchased 50 per cent Château Miraval estate from Jolie for an undisclosed amount.
2022: Pitt sues Jolie for selling her stake in the wine business
Jolie’s decision to step away from business bred more legal drama when Pitt sued her for selling her stake, claiming that she violated a previous agreement.
According to court documents, Pitt alleged that Jolie failed to receive his permission before selling her shares to the Stoli Group, and that the pair previously had an agreement that neither would do so without the other person’s approval.
In a court filing made in June 2022, Pitt also accused Jolie of damaging the reputation of the wine business by selling her shares to a “stranger”.
Pitt claimed that Jolie intentionally “sought to inflict harm on” him by selling her half of the business.
“Jolie pursued and then consummated the purported sale in secret, purposely keeping Pitt in the dark, and knowingly violating Pitt’s contractual rights,” read the filing.
Pitt also said that the wine business was his passion project that grew “into a multimillion-dollar global business and one of the world’s most highly regarded producers of rosé wine” and that Jolie contributed “nothing” to the business’s success.
August 2022: Details of the alleged plane incident emerge
By the summer of 2022 as the pair navigated the legal dispute over Château Miraval, documents were made public about the conflict that allegedly happened between the pair on a private jet in 2016.
In documents made public, Jolie claimed that Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her”.
The filing also stated that, at one point, “he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children”.
When she said it seemed “like he was going to attack” one of their children for calling him a “prick” during the dispute, Jolie recounted wrapping her arms around Pitt’s neck in a chokehold-style.
Jolie said Pitt was “becoming a monster” as he “ranted” and “screamed” at them." She added that she and the children were “shell-shocked,” saying she was “frozen, scared and didn’t know what to do.” Jolie also claimed that his actions made her feel “like a hostage” on the plane.
The Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services concluded its investigation into the incident in November 2016 and found no abuse. The FBI also closed its investigation that month with no charges and Pitt vehemently denied any abuse.
September 2022: Jolie claims Pitt ‘masterminded’ plan to take control of their winery
After Pitt sued Jolie over her sale of her stake in the Château Miraval winery, Jolie filed a countersuit in which she accused her ex of “waging a vindictive war” and “masterminding a so-far-successful plan to seize control” or the winery after their divorce. Pitt’s lawyer denied the claims.
December 2022: Jolie says Pitt’s winery lawsuit ‘part of problematic pattern’
In a statement from her management, Jolie denied that she and Pitt had any “a secret, unwritten, unspoken contract" that required the both of them to ask for consent before selling their shares of Château Miraval.
She also called Pitt’s legal actions “frivolous, malicious and part of a problematic pattern”.
November 2023: Children in the news
Pitt and Jolie’s daughter Zahara, who was adopted in 2005 from Ethiopia, dropped her father’s last name during a sorority induction ceremony at Spelman College, an American liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia.
In a video obtained by Essence, the 18-year-old undergraduate reportedly identified herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie” – notably choosing to omit her famous father’s surname.
Weeks later, the pair’s son Pax reportedly called Pitt a “world class a**hole” and “f***ing awful human being” in a scathing Father’s Day post.
“Happy Father’s Day to this world class a***hole,” Pax reportedly addressed a message to his adoptive dad. “You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person.”
“You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence,” the teenager captioned a photograph of Pitt accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2020.
Pax, then 16, wrote: “You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell. You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want, but the truth will come to light someday.
“So, Happy Father’s Day, you f***ing awful human being!!!”
April 2024: Jolie alleges that Pitt’s ‘abuse’ predated the 2016 flight incident
As part of the pair’s ongoing legal dispute over Château Miraval, Jokie alleged that Pitt was physically abusive towards her prior to a 2016 plane incident that culminated in the Maleficent star filing for divorce.
Jolie’s legal team filed a motion on 4 April seeking to release communications that they say would prove Pitt, 60, would not let her sell her share of the winery to him unless she agreed to an “expansive” NDA.
In the court documents, filed to Los Angeles County Superior Court, the actor’s lawyers claim that Pitt had a history of physical abuse towards her before the 2016 incident on a private jet, from which she accused Pitt of being physically abusive towards their children.
The lawyers said in the filing: “While Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him.” The Independent contacted Pitt’s representatives for comment.
July 2024: Jolie asks Pitt to drop his charges against her
In July 2024, Jolie’s legal team said that the actor wanted Pitt to withdraw his lawsuit so the years-long dispute can be brought to a close, adding she will be forced to continue to defend herself in court unless he does so.
“While Angelina again asks Mr Pitt to end the fighting and finally put their family on a clear path toward healing, unless Mr Pitt withdraws his lawsuit, Angelina has no choice but to obtain the evidence necessary to prove his allegations wrong,” Paul Murphy said in a statement.
Murphy commented: “Mr Pitt has control of all the properties the couple shared as well as control of the business, but still he demands more, and is suing Angelina for $67 million plus punitive damages. In doing so, Pitt placed squarely at issue why he tried to punish and control Angelina by demanding a newly expanded NDA.”
August 2024: Pair’s daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt drops Pitt’s name
A Los Angeles court granted a petition from the third-eldest child of the former couple to legally change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie in August 2024.
September 2024: Brad Pitt goes public with his new girlfriend at Venice Film Festival
Pitt went public with his new girlfriend, Ines De Ramon, as he attended the premiere of his new movie Wolfs at the Venice Film Festival in September 2024.
The actor 60, has been dating jewellery designer Ramon, 34, since 2022, when they were first spotted at a Bono concert in Los Angeles.
30 December 2024: Pitt and Jolie reach a settlement
The deal comes more than eight years after Jolie and Pitt separated, with the former’s lawyer James Simon stating: “Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
Simon, confirming news of the settlement to The Associated Press, said in a statement: “More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family.
“This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago.”
However, while the former married couple have reached a deal, court documents are yet to be filed – and a judge will need to sign off on the settlement.
