Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt filed for divorce in 2016 (courtesy AFP)
Highlights
- Angelina recently alleged Brad failed to pay "meaningful child support"
- Brad Pitt's lawyer hit back the following day denying the claims
- Angelina was given custody of their six children
A renewed legal battle between estranged celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie began on Tuesday when the Hollywood actress went to court over fresh allegations against Brad. On his part, the 54-year-old star denied the claims made by Angelina's lawyer, slamming the court filings as "unnecessary" and a sham to attract media attention, reported People on Wednesday. Quoting Angelina's lawyer Lance Spiegel, People reported a brief was submitted to the Superior Court of the State of California on Wednesday, which dismissed Angelina's allegations as "a thinly-veiled effort to manipulate media coverage." On Tuesday, Angelina accused her estranged husband of evading paying child support, reported NBC News.
In the brief filed by Brad's lawyer on Wednesday, details of financial transactions have been mentioned, reported People. According to People, the lawyer said Brad Pitt "loaned" his estranged wife a sum of $8 million in connection with the purchasing of her present residence, adding he also credited $1.3 million to Angelina "in bills for the benefit of [Jolie] and the minor children." Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are parents to six children - Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne - the youngest three of whom are their biological kids. Soon after filing for divorce in 2016, Angelina moved to her Malibu mansion with the children and is currently believed to be residing in the historic Cecil B DeMille Estate in Los Feliz - a California neighbourhood - which she acquired last year.
People also reported that Brad's team reached out to Angelina's attorney with an appeal to "bifurcate" their marital ties, which would enable them to attain the status of single parents ahead of resolving other divorce related issues. Angelina's attorney reportedly asked that the plea to "bifurcate" the marriage be stalled on Brad's part but requested the same to the court in Angelina's new court filings on Tuesday. Now, People stated Brad Pitt claimed Angelina's sudden motion filing was "to create the impression that she, not [Pitt], wanted to bifurcate."
On Tuesday, NBC News quoted this from Angelina Jolie's court filings: "[Pitt] has a duty to pay child support. As of present, [Pitt] has paid no meaningful child support since separation," adding that she is now seeking "retroactive child support": "Given the informal arrangements around the payment of the children's expenses have not been regularly sustained by [Pitt] for over a year and a half, [Jolie] intends to file an RFO for the establishment of a retroactive child support order."
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed for divorce in September 2016. They met on the sets of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004, when Brad was still married to Jennifer Aniston. They were a couple for some years and then married in a secret and surprise ceremony on their French estate in 2014.