The initial and final encounter between Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie before Aniston’s breakup with Brad Pitt has re-emerged amid news that the Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-stars have formalized their divorce.
After more than eight years of legal proceedings, Pitt and Jolie have reached a settlement on December 30, just before the New Year.
This resolution concludes a lengthy ordeal that began when Jolie filed for divorce on September 19, 2016. She cited irreconcilable differences after being married to Pitt for two years.
The couple had been in a relationship for 12 years and shared six children at the time Jolie filed for divorce.
Before Pitt’s relationship with Jolie, he was married to Jennifer Aniston, star of Friends, whom he had met through his manager.
Pitt and Aniston dated secretly before marrying in 2000 while Aniston was still working on Friends.
Three years into their marriage, Pitt met Jolie during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith while still married to Aniston.
Aniston and Pitt separated in 2005, and by January 2006, Jolie’s children’s last names were changed to Jolie-Pitt.
In 2005, Aniston recounted to Vanity Fair an encounter with Jolie on the Warner Bros. Studios lot in California where she was filming Friends.
She recalled in the interview: “I pulled over and introduced myself. I said, ‘Brad is so excited about working with you. I hope you guys have a really good time!'”
Reflecting on their breakup, Aniston stated she ‘chose to believe’ that another woman was not the cause of her marriage ending.
Upon first seeing Jolie and Pitt together, she remembered: “The world was shocked, and I was shocked.
“I can’t say it was one of the highlights of my year. Who would deal with that and say, ‘Isn’t that sweet! That looks like fun!?’ But s*** happens. You joke and say, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’.”
Jolie’s lawyer, James Simon of Hersh Mannis, released a statement to CNN expressing Jolie’s relief over the settlement with Pitt.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt,” Mannis stated. “She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
Jolie filed for divorce following a 2016 incident where she accused Pitt of physical and verbal abuse against their children during a private jet flight. The FBI confirmed that Pitt was not arrested or charged with any crimes at that time.