Angelina Jolie is hitting back at ex Brad Pitt after he claimed she made recent court filings over child support in an “effort to manipulate the media.”
The actress’ lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, said in a statement to PEOPLE Jolie’s court filing “was both legally appropriate and factually accurate in all respects.”
“What has been filed by Brad’s side today is a blatant attempt to obfuscate the truth and distract from the fact that he has not fully met his legal obligations to support the children,” Bley DeJean said in the statement.
Jolie indicated in a court filing Tuesday that Pitt has not been paying “meaningful” child support during their separation. The actor responded with his own court filing stating he had paid over $1.3 million to provide for the actress and their six children, as well as a loan of $8 million to help her purchase her current home.
“Following the incident of September 2016, Angelina and the children needed to move from the family home, which Brad chose to keep, including all of its contents,” she said.
Bley DeJean, who filed Jolie’s court papers on Tuesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed the actor was “asked to assist in the expense of a new home for Angelina” and their six children but “instead he loaned Angelina money, for which he is charging her interest on a payment plan.”
The Maleficent 2’s attorney said the actress will “honor that loan,” but said, “A loan is not, however, child support and to represent it as such is misleading and inaccurate.”
According to her attorney, Jolie “is asking Brad to pay 50% of the children’s expenses,” but that the actor “has not” paid his share.
“Angelina has had to shoulder the majority of those without his contribution for the past two years,” Bley DeJean said. “Child support is not optional in California.”
“Typically a father of means would pay these expenses voluntarily without the need for a request or court order. We are hopeful that this can be resolved without further delay or posturing,” she continued.
The Oscar-winning actress said in her filing she intends to seek out “retroactive child support” from her ex. She also asks the court to “bifurcate” their marital status — a process that would mean they could dissolve the marriage and go back to being single before resolving other issues in the divorce.
A spokesperson for Jolie told PEOPLE that the aim the 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.”
Pitt’s lawyer, Lance Spiegel, slammed the actress’ filing on Wednesday as “unnecessary” and “a thinly-veiled effort to manipulate media coverage.”
Spiegel’s filing affirmed the actor “loaned” Jolie $8 million to help her purchase her current home and has contributed over $1.3 million “in bills for the benefit of [Jolie] and the minor children.”
Jolie, 43, and Pitt, 53, met in 2003 and wed in 2014 before they separated in Sept. 2016 citing irreconcilable differences. Custody of their six children — Maddox, 16, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox — has been an ongoing issue.
