Keeping the inner circle small. As Angelina Jolie continues her legal battle with Brad Pitt, she’s looking to her friends for help, a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.
“Angie has a tight support system that largely consists of her household staff, her brother, James, and a handful of very trusted friends,” the insider adds. “She and Ellen Pompeo have known each other for years but really bonded during [coronavirus] lockdown because their kids are really close.”
The 45-year-old actress has a select few people “whom she trusts with her life” — including Eternals costar Don Lee — and has relied on the support of friends who have become “like family” to her lately.
“The divorce has been very tough on her, both emotionally and financially … but she’s found ways to cope,” the source tells Us.
Jolie shares children Maddox, 19, Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12, with Pitt, 57, from whom she split in September 2016 after two years of marriage. The former couple were declared legally single in April 2019, but due to their failure to see eye to eye on their custody agreement, the divorce is still ongoing.
In March, the Maleficent star filed court documents accusing the Fight Club actor of domestic violence, stating that she and her kids were willing to offer “proof and authority in support” of the allegations. That month, Us exclusively reported that Maddox testified against his father amid the legal battle.
“It wasn’t very flattering toward Brad,” a source said at the time.
Like his ex-wife, the messy back-and-forth has “taken a toll” on the Troy actor, who believes Jolie is “weaponizing their children in a last-ditch effort to gain a favorable outcome that will allow her to move the kids out of Los Angeles at her whim, without Brad’s approval or knowledge,” Us reported in March.
Though the past few months have been filled with ups and downs, the Those Who Wish Me Dead star feels “secure” on her own and “doesn’t need to date just for the sake of it,” the first source says.
“She’s not rushing this and there’s no timestamp or deadline on her finding someone special,” the insider reveals. “The other factor at play here is that she’s said from the get-go how she wants this custody case settled before she moves on to someone else.”
For more on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith costars’ legal battle, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
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