Brad Pitt's camp is accusing his ex-wife Angelina Jolie of intentionally trying to damage his reputation based on the actress's actions with regard to an FBI lawsuit, according to a new report from TMZ.
On Tuesday, Aug. 16, Puck published a story about an anonymous lawsuit that was filed against the FBI in April. In that Freedom of Information Act suit, the then-unknown plaintiff wanted to get to bottom of why her "then-husband" wasn't prosecuted for an alleged incident aboard an airplane. At the time, based on the timing and information noted in the lawsuit, it was believed that Angelina was the anonymous plaintiff. Now, multiple media outlets confirm that the "Girl, Interrupted" star was indeed behind the legal maneuver.
Brad and Angie's marriage ended in September 2016 after a mysterious private plane incident in which an argument erupted between Brad and one of his children, believed to be eldest son Maddox, and reportedly turned physical. The FBI looked into a complaint about what happened and "conducted a review of the circumstances," a bureau spokesperson said at the time, concluding it would "not pursue further investigation" after submitting its findings to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, which declined to bring charges.
In the lawsuit, which Puck has seen — though it's now sealed — Angelina said she learned from the FBI's FOIA response last year that before the bureau announced that Brad wouldn't be charged with a crime, the agent investigating the incident had "prepared a statement of probable cause and presented it to the chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles," Puck writes, explaining that Angelina wants to know the reasoning behind the subsequent decision not to pursue charges as well as what's in the unredacted records that are still in authorities' possession.
The lawsuit also contains new details not previously known publicly: Puck reports that Angelina alleged in her filing that she told a special agent that Brad — who's denied any wrongdoing — was drinking on the plane and at one point grabbed her shoulders, shook her and yelled, "You're f****** up this family." The actress also alleged that Brad at another point poured beer on her and that she was injured during the flight and gave the special agent a photo of her elbow to confirm it.
TMZ reports that Brad's camp believes Angelina may very well be attempting to drag her ex's "name through the mud," surmising that her Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was only meant to regurgitate old allegations since she was already privy to the information she was trying to obtain. Sources close to the "Bullet Train" star told the webloid that Brad wasn't charged because there was no evidence to support Angelina's claims.