Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were officially divorced in 2019, but their child custody battle still rages on in the courts. Photo / Getty Images
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were officially divorced in 2019, but their child custody battle still rages on in the courts. Photo / Getty Images
In spite of being legally divorced in 2019, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are still battling in court over custody of their six children.
The former couple, who met on the set of the film Mr and Mrs Smith, dated for a decade before they married in 2014.
Court documents,filed by Jolie on March 12, were leaked to Hollywood blog The Blast and Pitt is said to be "heartbroken" by the leak. Page Six reports that Jolie is "ready to testify about alleged spousal abuse in their trial over child custody."
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie during happier times with their six children Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne while travelling in Tokyo, Japan, in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
A source close to Pitt claims that he is feeling "heartbroken" and wonders if the leaking of the documents was a tactical move on Jolie's part. The source told Page Six: "Brad and his camp has never attacked Angelina. But his camp feels this leak was calculated to sway opinion ahead of the conclusion of their trial," the source said.
"Brad feels like he's being more and more isolated from his children, and he's devastated about it."
Pitt is fighting for equal shared physical and legal custody of the ex-couple's six children - Maddox, 19, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, Knox and Vivienne, 12 - a move that seems to be at odds with Jolie's wishes.
If there are, in fact, allegations of abuse directed at Pitt, it won't be the first time. In 2016 the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services was called on to investigate an incident between Pitt and his eldest child, Maddox, which allegedly occurred during a flight from the US to Europe.
Pitt and Jolie's oldest child, Maddox, seen here in 2006, aged 5, was at the heart of child abuse allegations made against Pitt during a flight in 2016. Photo / Getty Images
Pitt was cleared of all charges of child abuse, but the incident is said to have been the catalyst that led Jolie, 45, to file for divorce from the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star.
Jolie is said to have tried to delay the final decision in the heated custody battle by petitioning to get the judge presiding over the case removed.
She is said to have raised concerns over John W. Ouderkirk's lack of transparency concerning previous cases he was hired for involving Brad's lawyer Anne C Kiley.
Jolie was worried that Mr Ouderkirk's close connection with Ms Kiley may give her ex-husband an advantage. Jolie's bid for a change of Judge was unsuccessful.
Ouderkirk is due to rule on the custody arrangement by the end of next month.
