It appears that the E! News host interviewing Angelina Jolie on the Golden Globes red carpet Sunday forgot some pretty big history about the star’s life over the past 25 years — a history that sadly involves her tumultuous relationship with, and bitter and protracted divorce from, Brad Pitt.
Jolie briefly appeared to be taken aback when Zuri Hall actually asked a question that would immediately make her followers think about her divorce from Pitt — instead of her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the Maria Callas biopic, “Maria.” As was widely reported last week, Jolie and Pitt announced on New Year’s Eve that they had finally settled their divorce after eight years of back-and-forth court fights over custody and domestic violence allegations.
“It’s been 25 years since you were nominated for the Oscar and the Globe and took them both for ‘Girl, Interrupred,’” began Hall, a reporter with “Access Hollywood.”
“And now you’re here tonight, nominated for this incredible project,” Hall continued before asking the very awkward question, “What’s the biggest difference when you look at your life, then versus now.”
That’s when Jolie seemed to struggle for words, as if in disbelief — either that Hall was asking a canned question she asks all stars or that she actually forgot Jolie’s high-profile breakup that consumed much of the past decade. Jolie also had to consider whether Hall might might be using the ostensibly, star-friendly red carpet moment as an opportunity to elicit a newsworthy statement about Pitt.
“Um…. man,” Jolie began, blinking nervously. Jolie wasn’t going to go there, and she generally hasn’t in interviews.
“It’s 25 years. I mean, a lifetime of difference,” Jolie also said.
Professional that she is, Jolie recovered and tried to be polite and anodyne, saying, “Just happy to be here.”
“Now, I’m here with my daughter. I’m here as a mom,” Jolie also said. “That’s different.”
Jolie was referring to her 19-year-old daughter Zahara, who accompanied her to the ceremony.
Zahara is one of Jolie’s six children with Pitt. She’s also one of the three daughters who have all dropped Pitt’s surnames from their own names — as if to show solidarity with their mother. It’s also been reported that Zahara’s older brothers, Maddox, 23, and Pax, 21, no longer speak to their father.
After the couple signed off on their divorce last Monday, an attorney for the 49-year-old “Maria” star said that she had been left “exhausted” by the eight-year divorce “process.” The “process” began when Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016, and it included an acrimonious, high-stakes legal fight over custody of their six children — four of whom are now adults.
During the custody fight, Jolie also accused Pitt of being verbally and physically abusive during a 2016 private plane ride from France. Pitt denied being abusive, and investigations by the FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services did not lead to criminal charges.
Jolie could have “pressed charges” against him and “told the whole world what happened,” but she wanted Pitt to get the help he needed and for their children to “heal,” a source told People last week. Actually, Jolie continued to make the make the domestic violence claims an issue in their custody fight in various court filings.
When Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, “she and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt,” her attorney, James Simon, said in a statement released to the media last week.
“Since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” Simon said. “Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
By starring in “Maria,” Jolie was returning to the realm of acting in serious films, as opposed to franchise fare like “Malificent.” Ar the Golden Globes, Jolie was nominated for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – drama. She lost to Fernanda Torres for “I’m Still Here.” Jolie is still a potential contender for an Academy Award nomination.