A Family Divided? Angelina Jolie Claims That Three Of Her Children Wanted To Testify Against Brad Pitt In Their Ongoing Custody Case
The custody battle rages on. According to court documents, Angelina Jolie claims that three of her children wanted to testify against her ex-husband and their father Brad Pitt in their bitter and ongoing custody battle.
The divorced couple, who split in 2016, shares children Maddox, 19, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 12. Only the minor children are subjects in the custody case. It is not clear which of the minors voiced their desire to testify against their 57-year-old father.
A court document dated December of 2020 states that Jolie's legal team said that "three of the children have asked to testify" in the ongoing custody proceedings.
In a statement, the humanitarian's lawyers explained that "The children whose custody is at issue are old enough to understand what is going on. The trial is necessarily going to impact them emotionally."
"To make any of the children endure what may be a futile and void proceeding is beyond unjustified," the statement continued. "It is cruel."
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This comes on the heels of the revelation that the 46-year-old actress, along with her legal team, has "filed the docs in her efforts to disqualify Judge John Ouderkirk from ruling over the case." The judge was initially brought on because the estranged couple wanted "a private judge to keep the details of the case sealed."
But as recently as August 2020, Jolie has claimed that that "the judge is compromised because of ongoing business and professional relationships he has with one of Pitt's lawyers." and that if he is not removed "she will appeal a finalized decision made by Ouderkirk in the case."
Unfortunately for the film star, the judge was kept on the case. Her legal team has claimed that by keeping Judge Ouderkirk on it "has made for a bad situation in which the children sought out to take the stand and speak their mind in the case."
As OK! previously reported back in May, the actress had filed a complaint to the Second District Court of Appeal in California over the judge's ruling to give her ex-husband more custody of their five underaged children saying that she was "denied a fair trial" and that important evidence was excluded from the case.
A source went on the explain,"Witnesses, experts, people who have been with the kids. The children's voices were heard, but they just didn't testify themselves." Yet there is a California statute that states that "any child at least 14 years of age should be allowed to weigh in and state custodial preference."
