After much speculation, the subjects of an anonymous 2016 lawsuit in which the plaintiff alleges being assaulted by her “then-husband” on a private plane have been revealed as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
According to a report from Puck, several years ago Jolie told an FBI agent that Pitt “physically and verbally assaulted” her and their children when they were aboard the plane. Per the agent’s notes at the time, Pitt allegedly took Jolie to the back of the plane, grabbed her shoulders and shouted things like, “You’re fucking up this family.” Jolie alleged that on the same flight, another physical altercation occurred, which caused her to sustain injuries, including on her elbow. She also said that Pitt was drinking at the time, and had poured beer on her. Pitt’s team has denied all accusations.
The special agent then met with the assistant U.S. attorney and concluded that they would not pursue criminal charges, causing Jolie to anonymously file a Freedom of Information Act suit against the FBI in order to obtain documents related to the federal investigation against Pitt. That Jolie was granted permission to file a case against the FBI anonymously was an “intriguing decision” that captured attention in Washington D.C., according to Politico.
According to Jolie’s complaint, which was amended in August, “Ms. Doe has been seeking the withheld information for [several] years in an effort to ensure that her children receive qualified…care and…counseling to address harm suffered…Information withheld by DOJ and the FBI contains evidence of the harm. The persistent denial of that information to Ms. Doe…a victim of the assault herself — has hampered, and continues to hamper, her efforts to obtain for her children necessary ongoing care and medical attention, and has further harmed the children in the family law system.”
In 2016, Pitt was reportedly under investigation for child abuse by both the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services after an incident occurred on his family’s private plane. Pitt allegedly got physical with his son, Maddox, after the then-15-year-old intervened in a fight between Pitt and Jolie.
Pitt’s team denied that he hurt his son, issuing the following statement to People: “He is emphatic that it did not reach the level of physical abuse, that no one was physically harmed. He did not hit his child in the face in any way. He did not do that; he is emphatic about that. He put his hands on him, yes, because the confrontation was spiraling out of control.”
Shortly after the incident, the celebrity couple got divorced, and Pitt publicly gave up drinking. No charges have been filed against Pitt.