Angelina Jolie sues to learn why FBI never arrested Brad Pitt: report

Six years after a reported altercation on a private plane that prompted Angelina Jolie to file for divorce from Brad Pitt, Jolie has sued to get information about why the FBI never arrested Pitt.

In a lawsuit filed in April under the Freedom of Information act, Jolie, 47, sought information about the FBI’s investigation into the altercation and about why Pitt, 58, was never charged for an attack, according to The Wrap, citing a story first reported by Puck News.

Jolie, only identified as “Jane Doe” in the lawsuit, alleged that her ex-husband, who had been drinking, “physically and verbally assaulted” her and their six children during the plane trip from Europe, according to The Wrap.

Jolie also alleged that Pitt also grabbed her shoulders and shook her, accused her of “f—– up this family” and poured beer on her, The Wrap reported.

If Jolie wants documents explaining why authorities’ cleared Pitt of the charges, sources close to Pitt told TMZ that they want to know why Jolie is seeking this information now, six years later.

They told TMZ that the actor-director has long been in possession of this information, leading them to believe that she only filed the FOIA lawsuit in April to get the media talking again about the domestic violence allegations against Pitt.

Documents from the FBI investigation, obtained by TMZ, state that federal agents met with representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office following their investigation. “It was agreed by all parties that criminal charges in this case would not be pursued due to several factors,” the documents said.

Puck News said the lawsuit was filed anonymously in April but confirmed that the plaintiff was Jolie. TMZ also confirmed that Jolie is the plaintiff.

Domestic violence allegations stemming from the September 2016 altercation have long been cited as the reason Jolie filed for divorce. For years, it has been reported that the confrontation also involved Pitt and the couple’s oldest son, Maddox, then 15.

This altercation became a centerpiece in the couple’s bitter, years-long custody fight over their six children and cited as the reason Maddox, now 21, has been estranged from his father ever since. In addition to Maddox, Jolie and Pitt also share son Pax, 18, daughters Zahara, 17, and Shiloh, 16, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 14.

Pitt came clean in interviews about how he sought help to deal with problems with drinking and managing his anger. He always denied being physically abusive to his children, while the FBI and child welfare officials cleared Pitt of wrongdoing over his confrontation with Maddox.

It also was reported in 2018 and 2019 that the actor was happy to have visits with his children supervised by a court-appointed monitor. Family law experts said that PItt’s consent to supervised visits allowed him to show he was making an effort to be a good father and practice “appropriate parenting.” In June 2019, it also was reported that Pitt and Jolie were working toward an “amicable” co-parenting relationship.

At some point that supposed rapprochement fell apart and Jolie reportedly objected to Pitt having 50-50 custody. In an interview in September 2021 with The Guardian, the United Nations humanitarian alleged that she and her children had suffered lasting trauma at the hands of Pitt during her decade-long relationship and two year marriage to him.

While Jolie said she couldn’t get specific about the trauma because of the legal issues, she told The Guardian that she had come to fear for the safety of her children. She said, “Yes, for my family. My whole family.”

Jolie also said that Maddox and at least two of the other children were willing to testify in court about what the children experienced from Pitt’s parenting and during their parents’ marriage.

The custody battle reached the higher courts last year, including the California Supreme Court in the summer of 2021. Pitt asked the Supreme Court for a review after an an appellate court ruled that John Ouderkirk, the private judge who had been handling the couple’s divorce and custody settlement, should be disqualified because of perceived bias in favor of Pitt.

That appellate court’s ruling effectively voided Ouderkirk’s previous ruling that granted Pitt 50-50 custody with the children, who were still minors. Ouderkirk had also run afoul of Jolie because he wouldn’t let the children testify or admit evidence about domestic violence.

The California Supreme Court denied Pitt’s motion in October 2021. Several months ago, Us Weekly reported that Pitt was staring down a grim possibility that would never have much of a relationship with his six children. Pitt had been “lamenting to pals” that his ex-wife would never agree to joint custody and basically wants “to run out the clock until the kids are 18,” a source told Us Weekly.

More upsetting, the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star is under the impression that Jolie hopes the children “will want nothing to do with” him once they are of age, the source said.