Angelina Jolie’s court filing accuses Brad Pitt of choking and slapping their children

Ever since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016, the Hollywood stars have been engaged in a constant legal battle over the custody of their children. Another recent legal clash is over Chateau Miraval, a house and winery in France that the ex-couple co-owns. 

Back in February, Pitt sued Jolie for selling her share of the winery to a third party, stating that their divorce agreement claims that they cannot sell their winery shares without each other’s consent. Jolie, on the other hand, filed a countersuit this Tuesday which states that Pitt’s claim is false and the consent clause was never discussed or put to writing previously. 

The countersuit also sheds light on Pitt’s abusive behaviour aboard a private plane in 2016. 

Details of Jolie's countersuit: The court filing by Jolie explicitly claims Pitt of grabbing her by the head and shaking her, along with choking one of the kids and slapping another when they tried stopping him. 

According to the filing, Pitt was involved in an intense confrontation with one of the children during a flight from France to Los Angeles. When Jolie tried to intervene, Pitt accused her of being “too differential” to the children and went on to attack her in a bathroom. 

Detailing the further incidents of violence, the filing reads: 

The legal document states that after this incident, Pitt went on to pour beer on Jolie and red wine and beer on his children. 

This is not new news: These allegations of the 2016 incident were hinted shortly after the flight but the details were reportedly vague and sealed in the divorce documents. A subsequent investigation by the FBI and Los Angeles child services found that action against Pitt was not necessary. 

Who has custody over the children? The 2016 allegations were also discussed in the close-door trial deciding the future of Jolie and Pitt’s six children. While a private judge awarded a 50-50 joint custody in 2021, Jolie forwarded a motion to an appeals court that alleged the judge to have undisclosed ties with Pitt’s lawyers. On grounds of conflict of interest, the judge was disqualified and the joint custody stood nullified. 

To put it in a nutshell, Jolie has sole custody over the children while Pitt has visitation rights. 

How has Brad Pitt responded to these claims? While Pitt is yet to respond to the publicised claims, an undisclosed source close to the actor has told Entertain Tonight: “It’s incredibly sad that she [Jolie] continues to rehash, revise, and reimagine her description of an event that happened 6 years ago.” 

Coming back to the time when the FBI didn’t find the incident as actionable against Pitt, the source added, “She had the opportunity to share this information with law enforcement who made the decision not to press charges...Going back to the same thing month after month with new and still false information for purposes only she can understand.” 

Even though this court filing is with regards to the French winery, Jolie’s claims might affect Pitt’s visitation rights. 

Ever since the allegations broke out, public backlash against Pitt on social media sites like Twitter has increased with some even equating the actor to Johnny Depp. There are other anti-Jolie factions that subscribe to the theory that she is merely rehashing and exaggerating the incident. Some are wondering why the kids haven’t spoken up if this actually happened. Four of the six children in question are legal minors.