Angelina Jolie's 'Pet Peeves' Might Be a Revealing Look at Her Brad Pitt Marriage
When Angelina Jolie split from Brad Pitt in 2016, she stepped out of the spotlight, only to resurface in the public eye when she had to. Now that she’s in the running for another Oscar nomination for her role as Maria Callas in Maria, fans are seeing a new side to the 49-year-old actress amid her divorce from the Wolfs star.
Jolie never calls out Pitt in her interviews nor does she even suggest that she’s speaking directly about him — but the timing of her openness might be her way of subtly shading her ex. When asked about her “pet peeves” in a Jan. 3 article with W Magazine, Jolie had a very specific answer. “My pet peeve is somebody who is a liar,” she said. “Somebody who feels a need to not say the truth or what they want, what they feel.”
That’s a very valid response because nobody likes to be lied to, but it’s her follow-up that has us side-eyeing Pitt. “There’s a big version of that—and I’m not trying to be heavy about it—but people who say one thing and mean another, who aren’t completely who they are,” Jolie added. “I think a lot of people don’t say what they mean.” Knowing her lengthy courtroom battle over their divorce, their six children, and the ongoing feud over their winery, Château Miraval, it feels like she hinting about her ex-husband.
Jolie’s lawyer James Simon shared a statement with People in late December 2024, admitting that the star was “exhausted,” but “relieved this one part is over.” While a close pal told the media outlet that Jolie “doesn’t speak ill of [Pitt] publicly or privately,” there are hints that what she went through in her relationship with him was difficult.
“I went very dark for reasons I’d rather not explain, but I didn’t have a lot of light and life within me,” she told Vanity Fair in early December 2024. “Your light’s dim.” Jolie retreated from the public eye to take care of Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. It’s also why some of her movie choices weren’t exactly inspiring to her.
“I also just needed to be home more, so I couldn’t commit large periods of time to pieces,” Jolie explained. “The choice of what to work on and when was not a creative choice, often, the last few years, but sometimes the practical choice.”
Jolie will probably never reveal exactly what happened behind closed doors with Pitt, but fans are catching glimpses of a dark time in her life.
Before you go, click here to see celebrity exes who never buried the hatchet.