Angelina Jolie Opens Up About Brad Pitt Split: ‘It Was a Very Difficult Time’
In her first interview since her very public split from Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie has opened up about what she describes as a ”very difficult time.”
The 41-year-old Maleficent actress spoke with the BBC News to promote her upcoming Netflix documentary, First They Killed My Father. On the topic of her family, BBC reporter Yalda Hakim asked Jolie if there was a specific incident which led to the actress filing for divorce from Pitt in September of last year.
“I don’t want to say very much about it, except to say that it was a very difficult time, and we are a family. And we will always be a family. And we’ll get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it.”
The FBI reportedly investigated Pitt around the time of the separation announcement, but details surrounding the reasoning for the inquiry remain speculative.
Jolie became visibly emotional when the topic of how she and her kids were coping with the split. “Many, many people find themselves in this situation. My whole family, we’ve all been through a difficult time. My focus is my children, our children. My focus is finding this way through. And as I said, we are and forever will be a family. And so that is how I’m coping. I’m coping with finding a way through to make sure this somehow makes us stronger and closer.”
In January, both Pitt and Jolie released a joint statement announcing that they would be handling their divorce settlement privately. The couple first began dating in 2004 on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but did not marry until Aug. 23, 2014. The two have six children together, including three adopted kids (Maddox, Pax, and Zahara), two twins (Knox and Vivienne), and a daughter named Shiloh. Jolie is seeking to grant Pitt joint legal custody but not joint physical custody.
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