Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Actually Don’t Want to Go to Trial
As surely as the political media jumps on any Donald Trump tweet, TMZ is there to jump on any microupdate concerning Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt‘s divorce. Just this morning (of all days), TMZ reported that the estranged spouses will “go head-to-head in a full-blown custody trial” like it was the Lifetime Movie epic of Harvey Levin’s dreams. Tied to a new legal filing, the site also proclaimed that while Jolie wanted full custody, Pitt wanted a 50/50 split.
Of course, it would be a big assumption for any gossip site to proclaim it knows exactly what’s going on with Pitt and Jolie’s separation given the lengths the couple have gone to try and keep this all as private as possible. The pair issued a joint statement back in January 2017 declaring that they’d be using a private judge to rule on their divorce and custody matters to keep all proceedings sealed and out of the public eye. Despite this, tiny nuggets of information have been leaked out to internet gossip purveyors at something of a regular cadence, including today’s latest update. Still, those leaked nuggets often only give those who have it a small view of the bigger picture.
TMZ proclaimed that the trial was set to start on December 4, and that it would last for about two to three weeks. You know what comes exactly three weeks after December 4? Christmas. Sounds a little tough to schedule the end of a long contested custody battle just a few days before Christmas, doesn’t it? If you’re working with a private judge, why would anyone want to put themselves through that during the holidays?
Well, now People, the Glenda the Good Witch of the East to TMZ’s Wicked Witch of the West in the Oz-like world of celebrity gossip, is here with its own scoops to straighten things out.
People confirms that while the couple have both agreed to keep their current private judge on the case until at least June 30, 2019, neither side actually wants to go to trial right before Christmas. Instead of a start date, both sides actually see December 4 as a due date to reach an out-of-court agreement. “The listed court date is seen as a target date for which they could reach an agreement on custody,” reports the mag, while, a source tells them, “both parties continue to work together toward a settlement.”
So, while some gossip addicts may be hoping for Angelina and Brad’s big day in court, it seems that both sides want to avoid that completely. The idea would be to have everything wrapped up by early December, with a few weeks to breathe before Christmas and New Year’s.
Oh, and People adds that its sources claim Jolie is not seeking full custody, either. So there’s that, and just another reminder to take all of these updates with a grain of salt.
Of course, the custody matter is only step one in the divorce. Once that’s figured out, the pair still have financial and property matters to work through before they’re officially legally detached.
Related: Angelina Jolie Would Like to Keep Her Divorce Very Quiet Again
