Why did Pitt and Jolie’s divorce take so long?

Arguably the greatest A-list couple of the modern era, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were married for two years – but it took eight years since announcing their split to finally reach an agreement. Why did it take four times longer than the marriage itself to conclude?

One part of the answer is that it’s a particularly messy divorce, complicated by bitter legal disputes involving their children and the French vineyard they bought together.

Some of that has yet to be resolved in what Jolie’s lawyer called a “long, ongoing process.”

Celebrity lawyer Chris Melcher told BBC News that the divorce settlement took an unusually long time.

“This is much longer than any divorce we usually see,” he said.

“But in the beginning they had custody battles, and then it all came down to this winery they own together, and that’s been the focus of their fight for the last few years.”

Many celebrities want to divorce quickly and move on, Melcher explained.

“A lot of times in a case of this magnitude, we can resolve it within six months, a year at the most. Eight years is really a sign that something more is going on.

“It’s the inability to let go and the desire to really harm another.”

Kate Daly, co-founder of online divorce company Amicable, told the BBC that such a case is very different from the average divorce.

“It’s an industry… [they can afford] a lot of expensive lawyers,” she said. “Most people couldn’t afford for it to take eight years. It’s an industry and it’s a bad example – we have to distance ourselves [normal] people from that kind of narrative.”

Jolie (49) and Pitt (61) got together after meeting on the set of the 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith.

“The movie brought us together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found that this weird friendship and partnership happened all of a sudden,” Jolie told Vogue in 2007.

Both were previously married – Pitt to Friends star Jennifer Aniston, and Jolie to actors Jonny Lee Miller (1996 to 2000) and Billy Bob Thornton (2000 to 2003).

Jolie and Pitt share six children together.

Jolie adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, a few months after his birth. Pitt later adopted him after he and Jolie began dating.

In 2005, the couple adopted their daughter Zahara from Ethiopia when she was a few months old.

The couple’s first biological child, Shiloh, was born in Namibia in 2006. Earlier this year, it was reported that Shiloh had filed a motion in court to have Pitt removed from her name.

Their son Pax was adopted at the age of three from Vietnam in 2007, and twins Knox and Vivienne were born in 2008.

The couple last appeared on the red carpet together in November 2015 for the film they both starred in, By the Sea. It was about an unhappy married couple, and it was written and directed by Jolie.

The couple rarely talked about their relationship, but while promoting the film, Jolie told The Telegraph: “Brad and I have problems.

“We have arguments and problems like any other couple. We have days when we drive each other completely crazy and want space, but the problems in the film are not our specific problems.”

The news that Jolie was filing for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” in September 2016 shocked many.

It turns out she filed for divorce the day after the private jet incident.

It was originally alleged that Pitt had punched son Maddox, then 15, on a flight from France to Los Angeles. The FBI and social workers investigated the claims, but no action was taken. Pitt has pleaded not guilty.

Then in 2022, legal papers from the vineyard dispute revealed that Jolie had accused Pitt of a drunken attack on her and her two children during the flight.

At the time, a source close to the actor told the BBC that her claims were false.

In an interview for Vogue 2020Jolie said she left Pitt for the “well-being” of her family.

It was the right decision, she said. “I continue to focus on healing them.”

In an interview for GQ in 2017Pitt spoke about his decision to quit drinking and smoking weed, saying the split was a “big generator of change.”

As for the divorce, Pitt said he and Jolie have decided to leave the path of “fierce hatred” and work together to resolve their issues, adding that they have committed to working things out amicably and privately.

Their attempts to reach an agreement on divorce and child custody appeared to be acrimonious and protracted.

In 2019, a judge announced that the couple was officially single, but that the divorce still needed to be finalized.

They agreed on custody in 2018, but that seemed to fall through. In 2021, Pitt was awarded joint custody after a court battle, but the private judge overseeing the case was later removed for failing to disclose his business dealings with Pitt’s lawyers.

That raised the prospect of a new custody case, but nothing has been announced.

And while the divorce saga may be coming to an end, there’s another legal battle that’s still going on — related to the vineyard.

Pitt and Jolie bought Chateau Miraval together in 2008 and married in its small chapel in 2014.

But Jolie sold her stake to a liquor maker owned by a Russian oligarch, according to Pitt’s lawsuit. He is suing his ex-wife for selling her share of the property, saying they agreed not to sell their shares without the other’s permission. Jolie has not commented publicly.

Few details of the divorce case have been revealed. Private judges are often hired in the US to mediate disputes between celebrities who are divorcing for privacy reasons.

All their children are now aged between 16 and 23, and showbiz journalist Jeanne Wolf highlighted the emotional fallout.

“It was a very emotional and complicated divorce settlement. It took a huge toll on the children and the couple,” she said.

“They tried very hard not to get too many details out about what happened in that marriage.”

Jolie’s attorney noted the passage of time in a statement Monday. “This is just one part of a long-term process that started eight years ago,” he said.

“Honestly, Angelina is exhausted, but she’s relieved that this part is over.”