Angelina Jolie isn't toning down her custody battle with estranged husband Brad Pitt anytime soon, a source tells ET.
Angelina Jolie isn't toning down her custody battle with estranged husband Brad Pitt any time soon, a source tells ET.
In a new court filing obtained by ET and filed on Tuesday, Jolie accused Pitt of not paying any "meaningful" child support for a year and a half, and said she's planning to get a court order mandating that he pay it. The court filing is the latest development in Jolie and Pitt's hard-fought custody battle over their six children -- 16-year-old Maddox, 14-year-old Pax, 13-year-old Zahara, 12-year-old Shiloh and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne -- that's been ongoing since their split in November 2016 after two years of marriage.
Jolie's spokesperson, Mindy Nyby, tells ET, “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.”
ET has reached out to Pitt's rep.
But a source claims to ET that Jolie's latest move is in retaliation over the actress being ordered by a judge in June to help repair her children's relationship with Pitt. According to court documents obtained by ET at the time, Pitt now has more time with the children over the summer, while 16-year-old Maddox, "because of his age and maturity," gets to determine how much time he wants to spend with his father.
Additionally, the documents state that Jolie must provide Pitt with personal cell phone numbers for each child and allow him to text them whenever he wants. She is not allowed to monitor the minor children's text messages with their father.
"Brad wants nothing more than to co-parent and the judge agreed," the source says. "The custody agreement is in full effect and that has left Angelina seething with resentment and looking for any way to control the situation.”
"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," the source continues.
According to the source, Jolie has been escalating the custody battle.
"Angie is actually ramping up a battle, despite being advised to calm thing down," the source claims. "She was looking for a more aggressive approach and her attorney's most recent steps clearly reveal that.”
"She has gotten a reputation of being very unreasonable throughout this divorce and things seems to be getting worse," the source adds.
Meanwhile, a second source tells ET, “Brad always fulfills his commitments” when it comes to his children.
However, a third source tells ET that Jolie's court filing on Tuesday was actually “designed to move the divorce process forward.”
“In order for the marriage to be dissolved, certain things have to be resolved by both parties first, including matters of financial and child support," the source says. “The motion today was designed to move all of that forward."
“The dissolution of the marriage will help everyone to move forward as a family and work together as co-parents, which is something she is is fully committed to,” the source continues.
The source also tells ET that although Tuesday's court filing was filed by attorney Samantha Bley DeJean, high-powered attorney Laura Wasser is still working on Jolie's case, and that DeJean and Wasser are working together. Last week, Jolie's spokesperson denied to ET that Jolie was parting ways with Wasser after a TMZ report claimed that the attorney was quitting over internal conflicts with Jolie. A source familiar with the matter told ET at the time that it seems someone misinterpreted facts about the Oscar winner's divorce case with Pitt, and that new experts had been brought on, signifying a "new phase" of the divorce proceedings.
In June, a spokesperson for Jolie also rebuked the "misleading leak" of the court documents detailing her and Pitt's new custody agreement.
"From the start, Angelina has been focused on their health and needs, which is why it was so important that this last court hearing be conducted privately," the spokesperson said. "It's deplorable that someone for their own selfish reasons leaked selective portions of the confidential and sealed court record to create an inaccurate and unfair picture of what is really happening."
For more on the custody battle, watch the video below:
-- Reporting by Adriane Schwartz and Rande Iaboni
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