The Red Flags We Could Never Ignore In Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt's Marriage

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and given the red flags evident throughout their relationship, it didn't come as a huge surprise. The two met in 2004 while filming "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston at the time, but quickly began an official relationship with Jolie after he and Aniston separated in 2005. Jolie was a single mother to son Maddox, and the two went on to welcome five more children: Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and their twins, Knox and Vivienne. 

Pitt and Jolie were together for about nine years before they tied the knot in 2014. "We got married with our (six) children and they were part of the ceremony," Jolie told Today. "It was all of us agreeing to be together and to just commit to this life together. Not because we had to ... because we were absolutely sure we felt that much of a family." 

However, two years later, they split, beginning what would become a public, messy divorce that dragged on for years. As their children grew up, many of them, including Shiloh and Zahara, chose to drop Pitt as a last name. As with some other Hollywood relationships, there were major red flags for Pitt and Jolie which served as markers as to why their marriage didn't work out.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were married from 2000 to 2005, so when Pitt started working with Angelina Jolie on "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," he was still married to Aniston. The two announced their separation in January 2005, about a year after Pitt and Jolie began filming together. The internet is full of rumors that Pitt cheated on Aniston after he met Jolie. Whatever actually happened, it's definitely a red flag. 

The fact that Pitt was still technically married when things started unfolding with Jolie, even if there was no physical infidelity, hints at the possibility of commitment issues and duplicitousness on Pitt's part. To a lesser degree, these same concerns apply to Jolie, too, as she would have been well aware of Pitt's marriage. 

This points to disloyalty and a lack of commitment to the current partner. Not only that, but beginning a new relationship hot on the heels of a previous one means that the newly-divorced individual misses out on the chance to process the end of that first relationship. Jumping back into dating right after a divorce isn't the best move. It can have negative impacts on the new relationship, as unresolved feelings might cloud the budding romance. After all, it takes time to navigate one's feelings after breakup. Those things don't happen quickly and it seems like Pitt bypassed this step. 

While no one wants a new partner that's still in love with their ex, it's a nice sign when people can speak respectfully of past partners. It shows that the relationship has come to a healthy close, and it reveals that all parties are acting graciously. Brad Pitt, however, waved a red flag while sitting down with Parade in 2011, when he disparaged his relationship with Jennifer Aniston. 

"I spent the '90s trying to hide out, trying to duck the full celebrity cacophony," Pitt began. "I started to get sick of myself sitting on a couch, holding a joint, hiding out. It started feeling pathetic. It became very clear to me that I was intent on trying to find a movie about an interesting life, but I wasn't living an interesting life myself. I think that my marriage [to Aniston] had something to do with it. Trying to pretend the marriage was something that it wasn't." 

While it's totally fine that Pitt admitted he wasn't living his best life, it seemed uncalled for to drag Aniston's name into it. This kind of behavior is concerning because it comes across as mean-spirited and vindictive. Later, Pitt made a statement clarifying things. He called Aniston "an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman" and said that he wasn't calling her "dull" but saying instead, "I was becoming dull to myself." While the clarification helps, that kind of talk is still unnecessary. 

While we all want to believe in happily ever after, statistics show that the risk of divorce is higher if a partner has been married before. Second and third marriages, unfortunately, are more likely to end in divorce than first marriages. Both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had been married before. For Jolie, it was her third marriage. She had previously been married to Jonny Lee Miller, from 1996 to 2000 ,and then Billy Bob Thornton from 2000 to 2003. For Pitt, Jolie was his second marriage, following his divorce from Jennifer Aniston. 

While everyone wishes for the best when remarrying, the fact that both Pitt and Jolie had been married before meant that they were statistically less likely to succeed. According to The Micklin Law Group, 67% of second marriages fail and 74% of third marriages end in divorce. As the firm points out, second and third marriages can face hardships like lingering emotional ties to previous marriages, or a more casual attitude towards marriage, since an individual has already been wed and divorced. While second and third marriages are by no means inevitably doomed, Pitt and Jolie had that additional challenge put on their own relationship.

With six kids to raise together, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie faced another difficulty in their relationship, and one that would prove to be a red flag for the longevity of their marriage. They disagreed over parenting styles. "During their marriage, they had very different parenting styles. Brad grew up with structure and wanted more rules for the kids," an anonymous source told People. "Angie had a different upbringing and wanted the kids to be more independent and responsible for their own schedules from a young age."

While it's not abnormal for parents to disagree about certain elements of parenting, the source said that Pitt and Jolie "clashed" over this topic, implying it was continually contentious and bumpy, and may have led to serious conflict between the two. Disagreement over parenting styles meant that at their core, Pitt and Jolie weren't operating as a team, nor were they on the same page. It could definitely have been a major factor in their separation, leading to discord in the home and stress for the children, despite the lavish life they led.

Things clearly became irreparable when Angelina Jolie claimed that Brad Pitt had a history of physical abuse during their marriage. The breaking point was a private flight that Jolie, Pitt, and their children took from France to Los Angeles in September 2016. In a court filing from 2022 (via The New York Times), Jolie claims that Pitt "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her," choked one of their children, and struck another of their children.

"While Pitt's history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family's September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him," a court filing read, according to USA Today.

Pitt's attorney responded, claiming that these allegations were untrue. "Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn't do," his lawyer's statement read, per CNN. These allegations of abuse, and their nearly-decade long divorce settlement, points to retroactive red flags in their marriage. The level of acrimoniousness following Jolie and Pitt's separation indicates that things were probably very heated throughout their relationship. 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website. If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.