Angelina Jolie Speaks Out About Brad Pitt Split: ‘It Was the Right Decision’

They split nearly four years ago, and now Angelina Jolie is shedding some light on her divorce from Brad Pitt.

In a new interview with Vogue, she talked about why they needed to go their separate ways for the sake of their six kids, Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 11.

“I separated for the well-being of my family,” she said. “It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people.”

She also shared a little bit about her busy life in quarantine, insisting she thought, like many, she would learn to cook, but it never happened.

Jolie said of her work, “I'll be working with UNHCR on the global crisis and keeping connected and raising awareness of the realities on the ground. And continuing to work with the BBC World Service, on a media literacy initiative for young people. I'm also collaborating with Amnesty International on a book project for children's rights. I went into lockdown thinking it would be a good time to learn to cook. Never happened. I know my limits.”

This isn't the first time Jolie has spoken about the split. In February 2017, she told BBC reporter Yada Hakim, "It was a very difficult time and we're a family. And we will always be a family. And we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it.”

As for how she is coping, Angelina shared, "Many, many people find themselves in this situation. My whole family — we've all been through a difficult time… My focus is my children, our children, and my focus is finding this way through and as I said, we are and forever will be a family, and so that is my, that is how I am coping. I am coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer.”

A few months later Angelina told Vanity Fair how rough the breakup had been, saying, “I think it's very important to cry in the shower and not in front of [the children]. They need to know that everything's going to be all right even when you're not sure it is.”

She said things got “difficult” in 2016, and “We're all just healing from the events that led to the filing… They're not healing from divorce. They're healing from some… from life, from things in life.”

Brad also spoke out about the split in 2017, he told GQ, “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. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”