One marriage and one divorce later, they’re still locked in a legal battle.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Nikki Peach<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/imago79130092-scaled.jpg” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” title_text=”Film Still from Mr & Mrs Smith Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie \u00a9 2005 20th Century Fox Photo Credit Ste” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] On 10 June, it will be 20 years since the film that divided Hollywood first hit cinemas. Before Mr & Mrs Smith<\/em>, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were the golden couple of the entertainment industry, with Pitt the pin up heartthrob and Aniston, \u2018Rachel from Friends\u2019, ever the girl next door. Angelina Jolie, meanwhile, was a maverick action film star who was covered in tattoos, married to Billy Bob Thornton who was 20 years her senior, and famously kissed her own brother on stage at the Oscars.<\/p>\n It’s almost impossible to cast your mind back to those days given how Mr & Mrs Smith<\/em> reshaped the cultural landscape. Not because of its gripping action sequences or its plot \u2013 it\u2019s actually a distinctly average film with a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes \u2013 but because it marked the end of Pitt and Aniston\u2019s marriage and the start of \u2018Brangelina\u2019.<\/p>\n Tabloid fodder at its finest, what was already an uncomfortable situation for the three actors was made worse by the frenzied rivalry whipped up by the media. \u2018Team Aniston\u2019 and \u2018Team Jolie\u2019 t-shirts swept the nation and were famously worn famous faces like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, tell-all interviews were offered and accepted on both sides, and an unrelenting stream of commentary followed \u2013 and in many ways still does.<\/p>\n Despite rumours that Pitt and Jolie had an affair on the set of the film, they have always maintained that their relationship did not start until after Aniston filed for divorce in January 2005. They did, however, later admit that they developed feelings for each other while working together. \u2018It took until the end of the shoot for us, I think, to realise that it might mean something more than we\u2019d earlier allowed ourselves to believe,\u2019 Jolie told The New York Post<\/em> in 2006. \u2018And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration.\u2019<\/p>\n When Aniston announced that she and Pitt were separating after five years of marriage, she cited irreconcilable differences and said, \u2018our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media\u2019 and that they remained \u2018committed and caring friends\u2019.<\/p>\n Of course, all that stood to change, at least in the court of public opinion, when Pitt and Jolie\u2019s romance was confirmed. First via viral pictures of them holidaying together in Kenya and then in July 2005 through their extensive W<\/em> magazine spread titled, \u2018Domestic Bliss\u2019. Something that, understandably, riled up Team Aniston. The following September, Aniston spoke out about her divorce for the first time, telling Vanity Fair<\/em>: \u2018There are many stages of grief. It\u2019s sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open.\u2019 Later adding, \u2018I would much rather everyone move on. I am not defined by this relationship. I am not defined by the part [the media is] making me play in the triangle.\u2019<\/p>\n In January 2006, Jolie and Pitt announced they were expecting a child together, six months after they adopted their daughter Zahara from Ethiopia. Four more children followed to form a total of six and all were present when the couple got married at their co-owned French Estate, Chateau Miraval, in 2014.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/imago56266507-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] However, the legacy of this power couple has been tarnished for almost a decade. In 2016, two years after their wedding, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt citing irreconcilable differences after a fateful private plane journey from France to LA. <\/p>\n In 2022, Jolie filed court papers accusing Pitt of drunkenly attacking her and their children during the aforementioned flight, prompting her to file for divorce. She alleges that he grabbed her by the head and verbally abused and poured alcohol on his family during the journey. Pitt has always denied the allegations and was cleared of wrongdoing following an FBI investigation at the time. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, the separation marked the start of an eight-year divorce battle that saw Pitt and Jolie in disputes over both the custody of their minor children and their French winery. The latter is still ongoing. Pitt and Jolie are finally divorced, but they are set to meet each other in court next year. They will both be subjected to depositions that may reveal additional personal details about their marriage, including the alleged \u2018years of abuse\u2019 Jolie claims Pitt subjected her to. The trial will also settle the rightful ownership of Jolie\u2019s 50% shares of Chateau Miraval, which Jolie sold shortly after filing for divorce. Pitt claims the sale was carried out without permission while Jolie alleges that she attempted to sell her shares to Pitt in the first instance but refused after he asked her to sign a $8.5m NDA to cover up said \u2018years of abuse\u2019. <\/p>\n As for the state of their once picture-perfect family, it similarly hangs in the balance. All six of Pitt and Jolie\u2019s children seem to have taken a marked stance with their mother, with several of them dropping \u2018Pitt\u2019 from their surnames. In 2023, their son Pax took to Instagram on Father\u2019s Day to share his thoughts about the F1 actor. \u2018You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you are incapable of doing so,\u2019 he wrote. \u2018You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell. [\u2026] The truth will come to light someday.\u2019<\/p>\n The Jolie-Pitt clan\u2019s dirty laundry is set to air in court in 2026, but Jolie\u2019s lawyers have insisted she never wanted their case to go to trial. \u2018Angelina never wanted any of this,\u2019 her attorney Paul Murphy said after a judge ruled that Pitt must turn over documents and communications that Jolie claims will prove he covered up alleged domestic violence. \u2018She never pressed charges, she left all their properties, and she is the one who tried to sell him the business in the first place. [\u2026] She wants this to end, the children want this to end, and Mr. Pitt should focus on healing their family, not pursuing lawsuits.\u2019<\/p>\n The legacy of\u00a0Mr & Mrs Smith<\/em> has, in many ways, returned to its origins \u2013 a toxic, highly-publicised feud with real lives and relationships at the centre. Sadly, this is a story that has not ended well for anyone. As for the \u2018truth\u2019, all eyes will be on the courtroom next year.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>IMAGO<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s 20 years since the culturally consequential action comedy, Mr and Mrs Smith, first came out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10312"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10329,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10312\/revisions\/10329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Angelina never wanted any of this’ \u2013 Her attorney, Paul Murphy<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]