Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt seem to have been together for eons, and it’s true… To some extent. The two celebrities separated in 2016, although their divorce is still pending. Today, it was revealed that Jolie has requested the dismissal of the private judge who has presided over those hearings.
According to the Associated Press, Angelina Jolie argued in a filing to the Los Angeles Superior Court that John W. Ouderkirk should be removed from the divorce case because “it refused to reveal the cases that showed the current, continuing, repeat-customer partnership between the judge and the respondent’s lawyer.”
“In addition, Angelina Jolie’s statement claims that Anne Kiley “effectively supported Judge Ouderkirk’s financial interests in trying, over the other side’s objections, to prolong his tenure (and his ability to continue to collect fees) in a high-profile case.” The statement goes on to say that it doubts John Ouderkirk’s capacity to remain objective, and that while Jolie’s lawyers tried to convince Samantha Bley DeJean, Jolie’s counsel, said in an email to AP:
According to the brief, all my client is requesting is a fair hearing based on evidence, with no special advantages granted to either party. The only way for litigators to have faith in the mechanism is to maintain justice and impartiality for all parties engaged.
It is unclear how things will move from here, but this is clearly a sensitive issue for Angelina Jolie and her team. Anne Kiley and Brad Pitt’s lead attorney, Lance Spiegel, did not comment to AP on the topic, nor did Ouderkirk.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt met as Mr. and Mrs. Smith and were a couple for 12 years until marrying in 2014 while shooting the 2005 action film. They have six children together. Technically, the two of them were divorced in April 2019 after their legal teams petitioned for a bifurcated verdict. This means that Jolie and Pitt can be classified as singles.
However, there are some issues to be resolved, although it is unclear what they are due to the sealing of many of the papers. However, Angelina Jolie claimed in 2018 that Brad Pitt was not paying enough child custody, which Pitt’s attorneys denied.
Angelina Jolie said in June that she wanted to divorce Brad Pitt for her family’s “well-being” and because it was the “correct decision” to make. There is still a long way to go until the two stars are out of this legal squabble, but Jolie and Pitt are currently on good terms and are close to negotiating a settlement as of last month.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more information on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce. Meanwhile, Jolie will next be seen in Disney+’s The One and Only Ivan, while Pitt starred in the film Bullet Train.