New reports indicate that the ongoing custody battle between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt may approaching a truce.
“Brad and Angelina are near an amicable agreement on the kids,” a source exclusively told Life & Style. “They’re in a better place than they have been in a long time and should be settling their divorce and custody agreement by sometime in February.”
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If true, this is certainly a positive development for the family as the couple’s divorce has been volatile at times, with it being reported once that Pitt offered Jolie a $100 million settlement to “be done with her.”
The 42-year-old actress had somewhat of a rocky 2017 with her divorce and custody proceedings being in the spotlight quite a lot, but there were some bright spot as well.
One of those being that she was able to reunite with her father, actor Jon Voight. It was surprising to many, as the two of them have had a notoriously difficult relationship over the years.
At one point, she was so intent on severing her connection to him that she legally changed her name to Angelina Jolie, dropping the Voight last name that she was given at birth.
While the private source of their trouble can’t be specifically pinpointed, it’s speculated that she’s harbored resentment against Voight for leaving her mother when she was just a baby and only sporadically being in her life.
The most publicly glaring moment of separation for the two, though, came in 2002, after she’d legally changed her name.
Voight did an interview and brought up his estranged relationship with his daughter.
“I’m broken-hearted… because I’ve been trying to reach my daughter and get her help, and I have failed and I’m sorry. Really I haven’t come forward and addressed the serious mental problems she has spoken about so candidly to the press over the years, but I’ve tried behind the scenes in every way,” Voight said.
Much to Voight’s surprise, that did not go over well with Jolie, who then tripled her efforts to cut him out of her life. About a year later she brought up her father’s comments in her own interview, elaborating on why it was so damaging.
“They could have decided he’s right, she’s crazy, let’s remove that child from her custody, and that’s unforgivable,” she explained. “My father and I don’t speak. I don’t believe that somebody’s family becomes their blood. Because my son’s adopted, and families are earned.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t until Brad Pitt, Jolie’s now-estranged husband, came into the picture that things improved between the father and daughter. Pitt reportedly encouraged Jolie to reconcile with her father and, eventually, she did.
