Angelina Jolie drops two-year-long lawsuit against FBI over records on Brad Pitt investigation

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Angelina Jolie has dropped her lawsuit against the FBI over records of her ex Brad Pitt’s alleged physical abuse. 

After more than two years of legal feud, the ‘Maria’ actress ended her tussle with the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, per In Touch Weekly.

Per the outlet, Jane Doe, 49, believed to be Jolie, filed the papers in court on Wednesday, September 25, to inform about her decision to drop the federal lawsuit.

Angelina Jolie drops lawsuit against FBI

According to the outlet, the filing reads, “The parties to this action hereby stipulate to dismiss this action with prejudice, with each party to bear its own fees and costs.”

In March 2022, a lawsuit was filed by Angelina Jolie under the pseudonym of Jane Doe. In the lawsuit, the petitioner filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI in 2021.

Through her 2021 filing, the ‘Maleficent’ actress asked the FBI to release certain records regarding their investigation of her ex, Brad Pitt on the physical abuse accusation. 

In a separate lawsuit, Jolie claimed that Pitt physically and verbally abused her and their children during a fateful flight from France to the US on September 14, 2016. Soon after the incident, the actress filed for divorce from her husband. 

Following the flight incident, the FBI and the LA County Department of Children and Family Services launched their independent investigations, with a FBI spokesperson declaring in November 2016, that no charges would be brought against Brad.

The spokesperson announced, “The FBI has conducted a review of the circumstances and will not pursue further investigation. No charges have been filed in this matter.”

Jolie, being dissatisfied with the FBI’s course of action, claimed that she was never contacted before the federal organization made the public announcement. 

According to her lawsuit, “[Angelina] was not informed of the FBI’s closure of the investigation prior to the public statement, nor was she informed of the FBI’s reasons for closing the investigation or making the unusual decision to publicly announce the closure of the investigation, despite the statutory obligation to provide victims earliest possible notice of the status of an investigation.”

Moreover, in her past lawsuit, she explained that she filed her Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI to ask them to provide her with the complete investigation records. 

Jolie claimed she pursued the records “in an attempt to better understand the FBI’s investigation and obtain the requested information to ensure that her children received [redacted].” 

In her lawsuit, Jolie also claimed that though the FBI produced 91 pages after six months, they were redacted. 

“[Angelina] and her children still do not have a clear picture of how the FBI handled the matter, nor any better understanding as to why it was abruptly closed without any advance notice to [redacted], who continue to be affected by the FBI’s unusual public statement closing the investigation and announcing that charges would not be filed against [Brad],” claimed her lawsuit. 

“As one example, the FBI’s public statement has served as a basis for the widely-reported claim that the FBI exonerated and “cleared” [Brad],” continued the filing, where it was added, “The FBI did not, in fact, clear [Brad] of wrongdoing.”

The suit continued, “The FBI’s 2021 FOIA Response demonstrates, among other things, that the FBI Special Agent in charge of investigating whether Mr DOE committed a federal crime prepared a statement of probable cause (which has been withheld in full by the FBI) and presented it to the Assistant United States Attorney and the Chief of the Criminal Division at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.”

“This misstatement has contributed to the ongoing harm [redacted] by delegitimizing their experience, making it difficult to demonstrate in ongoing family law proceedings,” continued the suit where Jolie claimed that FBI withheld 45 pages in full. 

However, according to Jolie’s recent filing, she dropped the legal battle against the FBI after two years of battling it out in court. 

Despite Jolie's dropping of the case against the FBI, the former couple still battle it out in the court regarding ownership of their French winery Chateau Miraval. 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie broke up over different parenting style

Apart from their infamous plane ride, there was another aspect that apparently led to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce. 

A source close to the two stars, once said to People, "During their marriage, they had very different parenting styles. Brad grew up with the structure and wanted more rules for the kids."

"Angie had a different upbringing and wanted the kids to be more independent and responsible for their own schedules from a young age," explained the source. 

They continued, "Brad and Angie clashed over this. However, they did always have the same vision for their kids' future. They wanted the kids to thrive by experiencing the world first-hand and not only learn from traditional schooling."

Pitt and Jolie are parents to Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, Knox and Vivienne, 16.