How Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Went From Hollywood's Hottest Romance to a Divorce That's Dragged on for 8 Years

07/22/2024 12:43 PM

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's relationship has had highs and lows

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie used to make headlines for being Hollywood's top "it" couple. These days, it's a different story. 

In 2016, Jolie, 49, filed for divorce from Pitt, 60, citing irreconcilable differences. Their split kicked off a years-long legal saga involving disagreements about properties, businesses and custody of their six children: sons Maddox and Pax Thien, daughters Zahara Marley and Shiloh Nouvel and twins Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline.

Before their contentious separation, the pair famously met while playing the titular married duo in 2005'sMr. and Mrs. Smith. At the time, Jolie was a single mother to Maddox, now 22, and Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. A year after Pitt's split from Aniston, 55, in 2005, as media attention grew around the couple dubbed "Brangelina," Jolie confirmed to PEOPLE that they were together and that she was pregnant with Shiloh, now 18. 

Related: Brad Pitt's Dating History: From Jennifer Aniston to Ines de Ramon

In the following years, Pitt and Jolie garnered as much attention for their growing family as they did for their hit Hollywood projects (they also reunited onscreen in 2015's romance drama By the Sea). Of totaling six kids with the birth of Knox and Vivienne in 2008, the Girl, Interrupted Oscar winner gave PEOPLE a glimpse of family life: "It is chaos, but we are managing it and having a wonderful time."

The couple remained unmarried until 2014, when they held a private wedding ceremony at the Château Miraval, France, which they jointly owned. "It was important to us that the day was relaxed and full of laughter," the newly married couple told PEOPLE at the time. "It was such a special day to share with our children and a very happy time for our family."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Only two years later, it became apparent that Pitt and Jolie's happy home life was at an end.

On Sept. 14, 2016, Jolie and Pitt got into an alleged physical altercation on a private plane ride with their six kids from France to their home in Los Angeles. In heavily redacted FBI documents released six years later in 2022, Jolie claimed that Pitt's actions made her feel "like a hostage" on the plane as he allegedly grabbed and shook her, pushed her into a wall and punched the ceiling of the aircraft.

She further alleged that he looked "like he was going to attack" one of her children after they called him a "prick" during the alleged fight. Jolie also admitted to wrapping her arms around Pitt's neck in a chokehold style.

The incident resulted in Pitt being investigated by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services. They later concluded the investigation with no findings of abuse. 

The report resurfaced amid the former couple's legal battle over the custody of their kids. The Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Oscar winner was briefly granted joint custody of their minor children in 2021, until a judge was removed from the case over impartiality concerns, reverting the agreement back to Jolie's full custody. 

Related: Angelina Jolie Is 'Happy and Content with Her Life' as She Remains 'Focused on Her Kids and Work' (Source)

Today, custody only applies to the exes' 15-year-old twins. Pitt has "virtually no contact with the adult kids," a source told PEOPLE amid reports that Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne have each sought to change their last names from Pitt-Jolie to Jolie.

Meanwhile, legal teams continue to trade barbs about an ongoing disagreement over Château Miraval. After Jolie sold her half of its winery in 2021, Pitt sued her, arguing that her sale went against a verbal agreement they had. Jolie's lawyers have claimed she refused to let Pitt buy her out of the business because she didn't want to sign the deal's non-disclosure agreement. They have requested that Pitt disclose third-party communications he had about the alleged plane incident of 2016.

"It's not done yet," a source recently told PEOPLE of the former Hollywood power couple's ongoing divorce. "Both sides are still talking."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.