Angelina's Kids Reportedly Wanted Her To "Defend Herself" Amid Divorce

For the past eight years, Angelina Jolie has been locked in an intense legal battle with her ex-husband Brad Pitt. She filed for divorce from him back in 2016, and now the split has been officially finalized. Shortly after long-awaited ruling, a source reportedly close to Jolie shed some light on how her six children felt about how their mother handled the high-profile divorce.

"They have wanted her to speak up for herself, to defend herself over these years but she reminds them to focus on changing laws over telling public stories," the source told People on Jan. 1. Notably, Jolie has very rarely made any public statements about her divorce during the eight-year legal proceedings.

"She’s been trying hard to be light after a dark time," the source said. "The kids have grown up seeing that some people have so much power and privilege that their voices don’t matter. Their pain doesn’t count."

Jolie may have kept mum, but her children have sent quite a few telling signals in recent years. In May 2024, 18-year-old Shiloh Jolie-Pitt filed to have her name legally changed to just Shiloh Jolie. Around the same time, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt’s name appeared as Vivienne Jolie in a playbill for a musical she produced, and a year earlier, Zahara Jolie-Pitt was introduced as Zahara Marley Jolie at a sorority event. And of course, Pax Jolie-Pitt has not been shy about sharing his disdain for this father, blasting Pitt as a “terrible and despicable person” in an infamous Father’s Day post.

Jolie and Pitt’s divorce was finalized at long last on Dec. 30, 2024. Neither of them has spoken about it yet, but Jolie’s lawyer shared that the actor is “focused on finding peace and healing for their family” now that the legalities are done.

“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt,” Jolie's lawyer James Simon told People. “This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”