It was only a matter of time, we suppose.
Nevertheless, it still make us sad to write the following sentence:
Things between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are starting to get very ugly.
According to new legal documents filed by the famous actress on Tuesday, her handsome and estranged husband hasn’t paid any “meaningful” child support for a year and a half during their ongoing, and at times contentious, divorce proceedings.
As a result, Jolie says she is planning to seek a court order to force Pitt’s gorgeous hand.
“[Pitt] has a duty to pay child support. As of present, he has paid no meaningful child support since separation,” wrote Jolie’s lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, in a two-page brief filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The brief was obtained by NBC News and other reliable media outlets.
As has been custom in this divorce case, neither Pitt nor Jolie are on public record with quotes about how the other side is acting.
But various reports over the past several months have indicated that Jolie is growing increasingly frustrated over the direction of the negotiations.
Adds Angelina’s attorney in regard to this child support issue:
“Given the informal arrangements around the payment of the children’s expenses have not been regularly sustained by [Pitt] for over a year and a half, [Jolie] intends to file an RFO for the establishment of a retroactive child support order.”
(Note: An RFO is a request for a court order.)
(Second Note: The court filing did not define what is “meaningful” support. We do not know the amounts being discussed here.)
Speaking as always these days through spokespersons, Jolie explains that the purpose of her latest 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.”
Pitt counters that he has “fulfilled his commitments.”
The stars got married in 2014 (over a decade since they got together) and broke up in September of 2016.
They have six kids – Maddox, 16, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox – and, until now, the main source of tension in their split has been custody of these kids.
Not payment for the kids’ expenses.
Insider tells TMZ, meanwhile, that this new filing is yet another attempt by Jolie to trash Pitt in the press.
These insiders allege that Pitt and Jolie have an informal child support agreement and that Pitt has gone above and beyond what it entails; he has supposedly handed his ex-wife millions of dollars for this purpose.
In June, after the actor and actrss failed to reach a private agreement on custody, a judge established a detailed schedule for Pitt to spend time with the children (except Maddox, who according to the court, is old enough to decide for himself how much time he wants to spend with his dad).
This arrangement remains temporary, however.
And questions remain over whether Jolie is trying to punish Pitt by limiting his visits with the kids…
… or if she actually believe he’s a bad influence on them.
How did we ever get here, right, Brangelina fans?
Last year, lawyers sought to seal records pertaining to the couple’s six minor children in the ongoing divorce and child custody case.
Still, though, information continues to leak out.
The children are residing in London with Jolie right now as she filming Maleficent 2, yet normally live in Los Angeles, where Pitt also lives.
Pitt’s legal team has alleged in court documents that Jolie and her legal team have compromised the children’s privacy through court filings in a bid to undercut Pitt in the couple’s custody battle.
As we said: it’s all turned very ugly.
Let’s just hope it reaches an amicable conclusion soon.
