A new update on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s ongoing legal battle just revealed that their
minor children will not be able to testify during their divorce trial. Let’s get into
what Angelina thinks of the judge’s decision.
In case you forgot, while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie did split up back in 2016, they’ve
been in ongoing contentious court battles ever since.
The two were legally declared single in 2019, but their divorce proceedings over things
like the custody of their children and some shared assets have not yet been resolved.
And back in March of this year, it was revealed that Angelina invoked past domestic violence
allegations against Brad in court docs.
With these documents, Angelina also agreed to provide testimony herself, along with a
separate filing concerning the “testimony of their minor children.”
At the time, The Blast reported that both Brad and Angelina must grant permission for
the court to involve their minor kids in their divorce proceedings.
It was also stated that their oldest child Maddox could also testify in the trial, but
since he is over 18, he would not need parental consent.
Though now, the Associated Press is reporting that Angelina’s representatives just filed
new paperwork suggesting the trial judge is not allowing her kids to testify in her divorce
case from Brad.
Additionally, Us Weekly reported that the judge ruled in favor of Brad Pitt to share
joint custody of their six children.
After months of back and forth, Judge John Ouderkirk issued a tentative custody order
ruling that the exes will split time with their children.
According to Us Weekly, the court docs said that Angelina’s testimony QUOTE “...lacked
credibility in many important areas, and the existing custody order between the parties
must be modified, per Mr. Pitt’s request, in the best interests of the children.”
With this, Angelina is claiming that Judge Ouderkirk is denying her a fair trial.
Fans recall that Angelina has actually had an issue with this judge for months.
At one point, she even tried to remove him from the trial all together because the judge
allegedly has a business relationship with one of Brad‘s attorneys and he failed to
disclose this information in a timely manner.
AP is now reporting that the new docs Angelina’s reps filed state that quote, “Judge Ouderkirk
denied Ms. Jolie a fair trial, improperly excluding her evidence relevant to the children’s
health, safety, and welfare, evidence critical to making her case.”
She also cited a California code that says a child 14 or over should be allowed to testify
if they want to.
This would allow three of Brad and Angelina’s six children, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old
Zahara, and 14-year-old Shiloh to testify.
As of now, 19 year old Maddox is not subject to the custody decision and it seems he will
still be able to testify as a legal adult.
But Angelina claims that the judge has quote, “failed to adequately consider” that it
could be against the best interest of their children if custody is awarded to a person
with a history of domestic violence.
Angelina’s most recent docs didn’t list additional details about what she was referring
to, but the docs her lawyers filed back in March made it clear that she is quote, “ready
and willing to offer proof and authority in support of alleged domestic violence.”
And so, AP reported that in this week’s filing Angelina states that if the tentative
custody decision is made final by Judge Ouderkirk, she will appeal it.
This means their ongoing court proceedings will likely only continue, despite Angelina
saying that further delays in reaching an arrangement would “work grave harm upon
the children, who will be further denied permanence and stability.”
So how long could this all go on for? Well, earlier this year, a lawyer spoke to the Daily
Mail and revealed that Angelina and Brad could unfortunately be in court for many more years.
Divorce attorney Kelly Chang Rickert spoke to the outlet saying quote, “Their youngest
kids, twins Knox and Vivienne, are 12 so this could go on another six years until they reach
the age of majority at 18. I’ve definitely had cases go on and on and on until the kids
are adults.”
And with these new filings this week, it definitely seems like that could be the case.
We will keep you guys posted if we hear anything else about their upcoming court hearing and
whether or not it looks like they will be able to reach a resolution any time soon.
For now, if you want more on Angelina Jolie, click right over here to find out why she
was recently covered in bees.
Then hop to the comments and let me know all your thoughts on this possibly lasting another
six years.
As always, I’m your host Renee Ariel, you can follow me on socials @ReneeAriel and I’ll
see you next time!