Angelina Alleges Brad Tried To Force Her To 'Keep Quiet' About Abuse
Notably, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad in September 2016, after twelve years together and two years of marriage (the wedding itself took place at the aforementioned château). The divorce came as a shock to some, especially since both the FBI and Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services reported at the time that they were investigating Brad for an alleged event of child abuse on the family's private jet.
Now, according to the Maleficent actress, Brad is still trying to bury news of that incident, including the supposed refusal to purchase Angelina's interest in the château unless she kept silent about the allegations. "No matter how many times Mr. Pitt amends his complaint, he cannot escape from the fact that he verbally and physically assaulted Ms. Jolie and their children—even choking one of the children and striking another," a source close to Angelina told Fox News Digital. "Still today and in the seven years since that fateful plane ride, he personally has never publicly denied that it happened. Mr. Pitt saying that he is suing his ex-wife to protect his family is hard to understand because he is well aware the children have not felt able to return to the house in France for almost seven years now due to the events that led to Ms. Jolie filing for divorce."
The source added, "The reality is that Pitt refused to complete the Miraval sale with Jolie unless she agreed to being silenced about the abuse as he demanded that $8.5 million be held back to force her to keep quiet. Ms. Jolie had no interest in speaking about what happened, in fact she has not done so even once, and instead she devoted her life to helping the children heal and to advocating to fix the very broken domestic violence response system in America. The only reason any of this has come out now is because Mr. Pitt decided to sue her for not agreeing to keep quiet."
Court Documents: Brad 'Choked One Of The Children' And 'Struck Another In The Face'
Indeed, the humanitarian first accused her Oscar-winning ex of physically abusing her and the couple's children in a cross-complaint filed within the ongoing Miraval lawsuit.
In the cross-complaint, Angelina alleges that Brad "choked one of the children and struck another in the face" and "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her." Then, said the complaint, he poured "beer and red wine" on Angelina and their six children. "Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying," said the court documents. Angelina filed for divorce just says after the alleged altercation.
Prior to their divorce finalization in 2019, the couple shared six children: Maddox, 20; Pax, 17; Zahara, 16; Shiloh, 15; and Vivienne and Knox, 13.