In April 2022, Politico and TMZ reported that Angelina Jolie had filed (as a Jane Doe) for the FBI’s records on their investigation into the 2016 plane incident. The 2016 incident was the game-changer for Angelina. That was where a likely blackout-drunk Brad Pitt terrorized and assaulted Angelina and their children for hours on and off the plane. In 2022, Angelina was technically getting a Freedom of Information Act request, but really, she was trying to piece together what exactly happened with the FBI investigation and why the FBI didn’t file any charges against Pitt. Angelina did manage to get her hands on some of the partially-redacted records, including the FBI’s records of Jolie’s own statements to them about what Brad did to her and the children. Many of those records were then FOIA-requested by media outlets who then published their own coverage, much to Team Pitt’s chagrin. Well, long story short, after two years of trying to figure out why the FBI didn’t charge Pitt with any crime, Jolie is now dropping it.
Angelina Jolie is ending her legal battle against the Department of Justice and FBI over documents connected to the alleged 2016 plane incident involving her then-husband Brad Pitt.
Under the anonymous “Jane Doe,” Jolie, 49, had requested in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2021 that FBI documents about the incident be released to her. Court documents obtained by PEOPLE indicate the Maria star dropped the case on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
The highly redacted documents Jolie had been pursuing detailed an allegedly drunken altercation on Sept. 14, 2016, between Pitt, 60, and his then-wife — which came days before Jolie filed for divorce, ending a relationship that began in 2005.
Their children were reportedly present for the alleged conflict on a private plane that had caused the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services and FBI to investigate Pitt. A source said at the time that Pitt became “verbally abusive” and “physical” with one of their kids, which he denied. Later in 2016, the FBI closed its investigation with no charges against Pitt and DCFS also concluded its investigation, concluding no findings of abuse.
Amid the ongoing legal battle over their French vineyard Château Miraval and wine company, Jolie responded to a 2022 lawsuit from her ex with details of the alleged incident, including that Pitt had “choked one of the children and struck another in the face.” A source close to Pitt told PEOPLE at the time, “It’s incredibly sad that she continues to rehash, revise and reimagine her description of an event that happened 6 years ago, adding in completely untrue information.”
I don’t know why she dropped this, other than she was tired of being stonewalled by the FBI and she likely achieved some of her goals anyway. It’s also worth noting that back in 2022, Jolie/Jane Doe’s lawyer told Politico that Jolie had been trying to get the FBI records for years without having to file a FOIA action, and the FBI stonewalled her that entire time too. It feels like Angelina has her suspicions that something went down between the FBI and Pitt and both parties are doing the most to cover it up.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.