Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt separated in 2016. Last year, she sent him an email that made her cry.

This story includes descriptions of alleged domestic violence that may be distressing to some readers.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce proceedings continue, six years on from when Jolie first filed for divorce.

The former couple have been battling over the custody of their children since their divorce was filed on September 20, 2016. They share six children – Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

Now, more details are emerging about the 2016 plane flight that led Jolie to file for divorce.

The latest update.

Last week, Jolie filed a countersuit against her ex-husband amid their legal battle over Château Miraval - the French winery the former couple bought more than a decade ago.

The countersuit, obtained by Variety, released new information about the alleged altercation that took place between Pitt, Jolie and their children on the private flight from France to the US.

Pitt had previously filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife, accusing her of violating "contractural rights" after she sold her half of the winery without his knowledge. 

Jolie’s lawyers claim in the countersuit that discussions with Pitt’s team about selling her side of the company broke down after he demanded she sign "a nondisclosure agreement that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children".

According to the countersuit, "Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face" and "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her" during the alleged altercation on the flight.

"Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall," the countersuit reads. 

"Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane numerous times, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom."

The countersuit continued, explaining how scared their six children were.

"When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him," it says. 

"To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow. The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop."

It added: "They were all frightened. Many were crying."

Now, a 2021 email from Jolie to Pitt has resurfaced, where the 47-year-old actress writes how upset she was about having to sell her half of Château Miraval. 

"It is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother’s memory," Jolie wrote in the email obtained by ET.

"A place that held the promise of what could be and where I thought I would grow old. Even now impossible to write this without crying. I will treasure my memories of what it was a decade ago."

"But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family - and a business that is centred around alcohol," Jolie continued, referring to Pitt's struggle with alcohol abuse. 

"I had hoped somehow it could become something that held us together and we found light and peace. I see now how you have really wanted me out and will most likely be pleased to receive this email."

The actress wrote how she was "shaken" seeing the imagery of Pitt's rosé brand of the same name as the winery.

"I find it irresponsible and not something that I would want the children to see. It reminded me of painful times," she said, writing that she does not feel she "can be involved, publicly or privately, in a business based on alcohol, when alcoholic behaviour harmed our family so deeply." 

She also addressed the plane incident.

"I cannot begin to express how upsetting it is for me to have to reach this point. Your dream for your relationship to the business and the alcohol is your own and you’ve made it painfully clear," Jolie wrote. 

"I wish you all the best with the business, and sincerely hope that the children feel differently about Miraval when they are older, and visit you there. But Miraval for me died September 2016, and everything I have seen in the years since has sadly confirmed that."

When the divorce began.

Jolie was the one to file for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences" and asked for full custody of the children at the time. 

Days later, news broke that an altercation on a flight from Nice, France, to Los Angeles had ultimately sparked the reason for the divorce. 

The Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services and FBI investigated the case and cleared Pitt.

In January 2017, both parties announced they wanted to keep the divorce out of the public eye. However, both opened up about their personal feelings about the situation.

"I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called," Pitt told GQ in May 2017. 

"And you know, after that, we've [he and Jolie] been able to work together to sort this out. We're both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, 'No one wins in court – it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse.' And it seems to be true, you spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you're right and why they're wrong, and it's just an investment in vitriolic hatred."

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's last red carpet together. Image: Getty. While Jolie shared with Vanity Fair that despite the complicated divorce and custody battle, the couple wants the same outcome.

"We care for each other and care about our family, and we are both working towards the same goal," she said.

Despite their personal admissions, the divorce proceedings continued. 

In August 2018, Jolie accused Pitt of not paying meaningful child support, which he denied and claimed he had paid her over $8 million.

"The aim of Angelina's routine court filing is to provide closure to the marriage in a way that clears a path toward the next stage of their lives and allows her and Brad to recommit as devoted co-parents to their children," the statement in the court filing read.

In April 2019, Jolie and Pitt legally "bifurcated" their marriage – meaning Jolie could drop Pitt from her surname and they could both be technically single while other areas of the divorce, including child custody and finances continued. 

A year later, in August 2020, Jolie asked that Judge John W. Ouderkirk be replaced as he failed to mention his ongoing business relations with Pitt's attorneys. However, he refused, stating that she's known about that conflict all along (considering he officiated their wedding in 2014) and that the court could decide whether to remove him.

Pitt's legal team filed their own documents stating that this action is nothing more than a "thinly veiled attempt by Jolie to delay the adjudication of long-pending custody issues in this case".

Listen to The Spill:  Brad Pitt's 'Golden Boy' era has come to a crashing end. Post continues after audio.

"The past few years have been pretty hard. I've been focusing on healing our family. It's slowly coming back, like the ice melting and the blood returning to my body," she told British Vogue.

"But I'm not there. I'm not there yet. But I hope to be," she added.

Domestic violence claims.

In 2021, Jolie had an interview with The Guardian to promote her new book, Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth. In the interview, the actress shared what inspired her to write the book.

"I've met too many children who live with the effect of their rights being violated – displaced people, young rape victims. I couldn't understand why they were still fighting for basic things that were their rights to begin with. It made me very angry... Then I had an experience in the States with my own children and I thought... well, human rights, children's rights," she said.

When the journalist, Simon Hattenstone pressed her on what it was that made her fear for the safety of her children, Jolie apologised: "I... I'm still in my own legal situation... I can’t speak about that."

"Nod if you're talking about the divorce and allegations," Hattenstone instructed Jolie, to which the star did. 

Did she fear for the safety of her children, Hattenstone clarified?

"Yes, for my family. My whole family," she said.

In early 2021, Jolie filed court documents against her ex-husband, claiming incidents of domestic violence. 

The documents, which were filed in March, state that Jolie and their children are willing to offer "proof and authority in support" of these allegations against Pitt. The actress also agreed to provide testimony, along with the "testimony of minor children".

"Over the past four and a half years there have been a number of claims made by Angelina that have been reviewed and not substantiated," a source told Us.

"The children have been used by Angelina to hurt Brad before and this is more of that behaviour. This leaking of documents by her fourth or fifth set of lawyers has been done to hurt Brad."

Image: Getty. 

The FBI files.

As reported in August, Jolie filed a suit against the FBI in April, requesting documents related to an investigation concerning Pitt, reportedly in a bid to find out why no criminal charges were brought against her ex following the 2016 flight.

She reportedly filed the suit under the pseudonym 'Jane Doe'. 

The report, obtained by Page Six, shows the assistant United States attorney and the assistant United States chief of the Criminal Division discussed the case in November 2017 before a decision was reached not to proceed with charges against Pitt.

In the initial FBI report, Jolie told officials that she believed Pitt was "mad" from the time they boarded the private jet.

During the September 14, 2016, flight Jolie said that her then-husband took her to the restroom, where he "grabbed her by the head, shaking her," and also shook her by the shoulders as they argued over one of their children. She alleged he had been drinking.

She then alleged that he punched the ceiling of the plane four times after telling her, "You're f***ing up this family."

When the kids asked, "Are you okay, Mummy?", Pitt allegedly replied: "No, she's not okay, she's ruining this family. She's crazy."

At this point, one of the kids – whose name was redacted from the report – allegedly yelled: "It's not her, it's you, you p***k!" 

Pitt then allegedly ran toward the child, but Jolie held him back, suffering injuries to her back and elbow in the process. She submitted photos of her alleged injuries to the FBI for the report and also journals from the kids.

At another point during the flight, according to the initial FBI report, Jolie said that Pitt poured beer on her as she tried to sleep.

At the end of the flight, Jolie claimed that Pitt held the family back from deplaning for about 20 minutes after she told him she was taking the kids to a hotel in California to rest. She said he yelled, "You're not taking my f**king kids" and pushed her.

A rep for Pitt declined to comment to the lawsuit news and allegations.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

This post was originally published on March 18, 2021, and has been updated since.

Feature Image: Getty.

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