After a very long and very public fight inside and outside of the courtroom, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are finally divorced. The agreement symbolizes an official end to the tumultuous eight years that have passed since Jolie, 49, first filed for divorce from Pitt, 61, citing irreconcilable differences after two years of marriage and over ten as a couple.
A Complicated Road to Closure
The divorce, filed in September 2016, was brought on by an incident on a private plane carrying the couple and their six children. He was never charged after investigations, but that incident set the tone for what would be one of the most contentious celebrity divorces in history. The case has been marred by accusations, custody disputes, and a legal tug-of-war over assets that include their $164 million French estate and winery, Château Miraval.
The estate issue saw Pitt sue Jolie in 2022 over the sale of her share of the property without his consent. She counter-sued, claiming Pitt’s ‘vindictive’ behavior. Now they have reached a settlement but still remain separately entangled with legal issues regarding the vineyard.
Custody and Confidentiality Agreements
Perhaps the most complicated and contentious issue which arose in the divorce had to do with the custodial arrangement of their six children, most of whom are grown now: Maddox, 23; Pax, 21; Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 18; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 16 – who had grown to maturity during the dragged-on legal fight.
Early in the proceedings, Pitt and Jolie had agreed to seal sensitive documents related to their children in an attempt at a semblance of privacy in this hotly covered celebrity divorce. This was to protect the family while working out an agreement on custody of the children and financial matters.
In 2019, they were declared single legally through bifurcation which allowed each to move on in life independent of the other while the finances and custody issues were left hanging in the balance.
A New Chapter
The settlement marked a major milestone for Jolie, who reportedly kept her main focus on healing her family through the ordeal. Pitt has since been free to pursue his projects and personal life, including a relationship with jewelry executive Ines de Ramon since 2022.
But even as the divorce proceedings were finally-and, indeed-truly over and behind them, their battle for Château Miraval was not; it saw some development finally in 2024 with a partial victory on both sides to set an irretrievable precedent with their claims.
As Jolie and Pitt finally close this chapter, the world watches the next stages of their respective journeys. Their relationship, of course, has been special to many fans and media, but it looks like, finally, after those years of courtroom battles, both have moved on.
This divorce settlement finally closes the chapter on one of the most salacious stories that the public has fixated upon for almost a decade and has driven complications in modern times concerning high-profile separations.
