First major victory for Angelina Jolie, who has been battling a legal battle against ex-husband Brad Bitt for years: the judge who oversaw their divorce and child custody decisions has been expelled. The decision means that the fight for custody of the couple’s five minor children, which was about to end, could begin again.
Angelina had requested that private judge John W. Ouderkirk be removed from office due to a conflict of interest. Reason? He allegedly had a private relationship with Anne Kiley, who is part of the ex-husband’s defense team. Ouderkirk would not disclose that he is in charge of other trials in which the lawyer also works. According to Jolie, the judge omitted “to communicate information on cases that show her current professional relationship with the lawyer”.
The two superstars, who have six children (Maddox, 18; Pax, 16; Zahara, 15; Shiloh, 13; twins Knox and Vivienne, 11) have been one of Hollywood’s most powerful couples for years. They had been married for two years when Jolie wanted the separation in 2016. In April 2019 the divorce arrived, but with several issues still pending: from the division of the immense wealth to the issue of custody of the children. Like many famous couples, Pitt and Jolie have chosen to hire their own judge to ensure greater privacy in the proceedings.
The indicator judge, who was also the one who had officiated their wedding in France in 2014, in a previous decision had spoken in favor of Pitt, allowing him greater availability to see the children. But, now, a California appeals court has ruled that John Ouderkirk – having had business dealings with Pitt’s lawyers and having benefited financially for other jobs, without disclosing – is unfit to pursue the case.
The “Brangelina” seemed like the perfect Hollywood couple. But when they said goodbye, immediately there were the first allusions to Brad’s alcoholism and rumors of a violent argument with his eldest son Maddox during a trip on a private jet on September 14, 2016, with Pitt coming under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department for “child abuse” (and later cleared by the FBI). Then, in September 2019, Brad Pitt admitted that one of the leading causes of the divorce was his addiction to alcohol, overcome in 2017 thanks to the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.