Why did Pitt and Jolie’s divorce last so long?”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been married for two years, but it took eight years from the time they announced their divorce to finally reach a deal. Why did it take four times longer to settle the marriage than the marriage itself?

Part of the answer is that it’s a particularly messy divorce, complicated by bitter litigation involving their children and the French vineyard they bought together.

Some have yet to be resolved in what Jolie’s attorney called a “long process.”

The celebrity’s lawyer, Chris Melcher, told BBC News that the divorce took an unusually long time to settle.

“It’s much longer than any divorce we normally see,” he said.

“But initially they had a custody battle and then it all came down to the winery they own together, and that’s been at the center of their fight for the last few years.”

Many celebrities want a quick divorce and move on, Melcher explained.

“Often, in a case of this magnitude, we can settle it within six months, a year at the most. Eight years is really a sign that something bigger is going on.

“It’s the inability to let go and the desire to really hurt another.”

Kate Daly, co-founder of online divorce company Amicable, told the BBC that such a case was very different from a normal divorce.

“This is an industry … (they can afford) a lot of expensive lawyers,” she said. “Most people couldn’t afford for it to take eight years. It’s an industry and it’s a bad example – we need to distance (normal) people from this kind of narrative.”

Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, got together after meeting on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which was released in 2005.

“Thanks to the movie, we found ourselves together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this amazing friendship and partnership all of a sudden,” Jolie told Vogue in 2007.

Both were previously married, Pitt to Friends star Jennifer Aniston, and Jolie to actors Jonny Lee Miller (1996-2000) and Billy Bob Thornton (2000-2003).

Jolie and Pitt have six children.

Jolie adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, a few months after his birth. Pete later adopted him after he and Jolie began their relationship.

In 2005, the couple adopted their daughter Zahara from Ethiopia when she was a few months old.

The couple’s first biological child, Shiloh, was born in Namibia in 2006. Earlier this year, it was reported that Shiloh had filed a petition to drop Pitt from her name.

Their son Pax was adopted at the age of three from Vietnam in 2007, and twins Knox and Vivienne were born in 2008.

The last time the couple appeared on the red carpet was in November 2015 for the film “By the Sea”, in which they both starred. It was about an unhappy married couple and was written and directed by Jolie.

The couple rarely discussed their relationship, but while promoting the film, Jolie told The Telegraph: “Brad and I have issues.

“We have quarrels and problems, like any other couple. We have days when we drive each other crazy and want space, but the problems in the film are not our particular problems.’

The news that Jolie was filing for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences” came as a shock to many in September 2016.

It was revealed that she filed for divorce a day after the incident on board the private jet.

Pitt was initially believed to have beaten Maddox’s son, then 15, on a flight from France to Los Angeles. The FBI and social workers investigated the claims but took no action. Pete denied guilt.

Then in 2022, legal documents on the vineyard dispute it was revealed that Jolie had accused Pitt in a drunken attack on her and her two children during the flight.

At the time, a source close to the actor told the BBC that her claims were false.

Speaking to Vogue in 2020Jolie said she left Pitt for the “well-being” of her family.

“It was the right decision,” she said. “I continue to focus on their healing.”

In an interview with GQ in 2017Pitt opened up about his decision to quit drinking and smoke weed, saying the split was a “huge generator of change.”

Regarding the divorce, Pitt said he and Jolie have decided to put aside their “bitter hatred” and work together to sort out their issues, adding that they intend to resolve matters amicably and privately.

Their attempts to negotiate a divorce and child custody proved acrimonious and protracted.

In 2019, a judge announced that the couple was officially single, but the divorce still needed to be finalized.

They reached a custody agreement in 2018, but it seemed to fall apart. In 2021, following a legal battle, Pitt was granted joint custody, but the private judge overseeing the case was later disbarred because he did not disclose his business dealings with Pitt’s lawyers.

That raised the prospect of a new custody case, but nothing was made public.

And while the divorce saga may be drawing to a close, another legal battle continues — over the vineyard.

Pitt and Jolie bought Chateau Miraval together in 2008 and married in a small chapel in 2014.

But according to Pitt’s lawsuit, Jolie sold her share to a liquor manufacturer owned by a Russian oligarch. He is suing his ex-wife for selling her share of the estate, saying they agreed not to sell their shares without the other’s permission. Jolie has not made any public comments.

Few details of the divorce proceedings have been revealed. In the US, private judges are often hired to mediate disputes between divorcing celebrities for privacy reasons.

Their children are now between the ages of 16 and 23, and showbiz journalist Jeanne Wolff highlighted the emotional toll.

“It was a very emotional and difficult divorce. It took a toll on the children and the couple,” she said.

“They were very careful not to reveal too many details about what was going on in this marriage.”

In a statement Monday, Jolie’s attorney emphasized the passage of time. “This is just part of a long process that began eight years ago,” he said.

“To be honest, Angelina is exhausted, but relieved that this part is over.”