Brad Pitt's Lawyer Calls Angelina Jolie's Child Support Claim a Ploy for Media Coverage (UPDATE)

Ever since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt split up in 2016, the custody of their six children has been up in the air. Recent court filings show a disagreement about child support payments, and it doesn't look like anything will be resolved soon.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with their son Maddox at the Oscars in 2013.
Image via Getty/Robyn Beck
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with their son Maddox at the Oscars in 2013.

UPDATED 8:55 p.m. ET: Angelina Jolie's attorney has released a statement on the matter. "What has been filed by Brad’s side today is a blatant attempt to obfuscate the truth," the statement reads in part.

EXCLUSIVE: Angelina Jolie's attorney issues statement in response to Brad Pitt's court filing: "What has been filed by Brad’s side today is a blatant attempt to obfuscate the truth and distract from the fact that he has not fully met his legal obligations" https://t.co/KDxr0801N5 pic.twitter.com/O7MtjPc3nM

See original story below.

Divorces are hard, and they don’t get any easier if you’re two of the most recognizable movie stars on planet Earth. Soon after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pittsplit in 2016, Pitt filed for joint custody of their six children, but negotiations have been complicated ever since. In a 2017 interview, Jolie admitted her “focus is my children, our children” and that “we are and forever will be a family,” but recent court documents suggest things are on the rocks. According to Entertainment Tonight, Jolie went to court earlier this week to claim Pitt hasn’t made any significant child support payments; Pitt countered by alleging he’s already paid millions. 

Jolie’s lawyers filed court documents on Tuesday that alleged Pitt has not paid “meaningful” child support for over a year and indicated Jolie intends to obtain a court order that would force Pitt to pay up. “The aim of Angelina’s routine court filing is to provide closure to the marriage in a way that clears a path toward the next stage of their lives and allows her and Brad to recommit as devoted co-parents to their children," Jolie’s spokesperson told ET.

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In the subsequent court documents filed by Pitt’s lawyers, also obtained by ET, Pitt’s lawyers argue he has more than $9 million since they separated in 2016, which admittedly is a pretty meaningful amount of money to most people. Of that amount, $8 million came in the form of a loan intended to help Jolie buy her current home, while $1.3 million was specifically for her and the children. Pitt’s lawyer went one step further and accused Jolie’s lawyers of pushing for a hearing in an attempt to “increase the conflict,” especially since this is the first they’ve heard of child support issues. They called the request “unnecessary” and a “thinly-veiled effort to manipulate media coverage.” 

This is just the latest episode in the couple’s complicated post-breakup negotiations. There’s six children involved: Knox and Vivienne, both 10, Shiloh, 12, Zahara, 13, Pax, 14, and Maddox, 16. Back in June, a judge ordered Jolie to mend the children’s relationships with Pitt, which resulted in the actor getting increased time with them this past summer. 

An anonymous ET source speculated that Jolie’s recent court filing could be a provocation in response to that judge’s order a few months ago. "The custody agreement is in full effect and that has left Angelina seething with resentment and looking for any way to control the situation,” the source argued. "Angelina is not in need of money and could easily put a payment plan together for child support with Brad without this aggressive approach, but this is the way she chooses to handle things.”

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