Angelina Jolie’s children ‘wanted her to speak up for herself’ during eight-year divorce battle with Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie’s six children reportedly encouraged her to speak up for herself during the eight years it took to finally sign off on her divorce from her estranged third husband Brad Pitt on Christmas Day.

‘She’s been trying hard to be light after a dark time,’ a source told People on Wednesday.

‘The kids have grown up seeing that some people have so much power and privilege that their voices don’t matter. Their pain doesn’t count.’

The insider added: ‘They have wanted her to speak up for herself, to defend herself over these years but she reminds them to focus on changing laws over telling public stories.’

The 49-year-old Maria actress still has primary custody of her only remaining underage children – 16-year-old fraternal twins Vivienne and Knox – with the 61-year-old Wolfs producer-star.

Five of Angelina and Brad’s kids appear to be estranged from him including his daughters – Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 18; and Vivienne – who’ve all publicly dropped his surname Pitt from their names.

Pitt reportedly got into a physical altercation with his son Maddox, 23; aboard a private jet in 2016 and his son Pax, 21; called him a ‘world-class a**hole’ and a ‘despicable person’ in an explosive Instagram rant revealed by DailyMail.com.

‘None of my children want to be in front of the camera at this time,’ Jolie told GMA on November 21.

‘They’re quite private. Shiloh’s extremely private. They weren’t born with privacy, right? So I hope they can have that as they grow.’

The couple formerly known as ‘Brangelina’ – who didn’t sign a prenup – were technically only married from 2014-2016 despite falling in love with each other on the 2004 set of spy flick Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which prompted his 2005 divorce from Jennifer Aniston.

However, Angelina and Brad are entering year four of their legal war over their 1,200-acre winery Château Miraval in Correns, France where they wed, which is reportedly worth $164M.

Jolie and Pitt purchased the the 35-room estate together for $28.4M in 2011, but he sued her in 2021 after she sold her stake in the ownership to the Stoli Group without his approval, which prompted a countersuit.

The Oscar-winning actress had initially offered to settle, but she reportedly took issue with the mandatory non-disclosure agreement and backed out.

For her role in Pablo Larraín’s biopic on legendary opera singer Maria Callas, Angelina was nominated for best actress in a motion picture (drama) at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, which air this Sunday on CBS/Paramount+.

Jolie faces heavy competition against The Last Showgirl’s Pamela Anderson, Babygirl’s Nicole Kidman, The Room Next Door’s Tilda Swinton, I’m Still Here star Fernanda Torres, and Lee star Kate Winslet.

The Tony-winning producer will then battle Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Mikey Madison, and Demi Moore for the best actress trophy at the 30th Critics’ Choice Awards airing January 12 on E!/Peacock.

The 122-minute drama currently has a 75% critic approval rating (out of 163 reviews) and a 66% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Maria marked the third and final film in Pablo’s trilogy of iconic women, succeeding Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021), which scored both Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart Oscar nominations.

Angelina – who had never sung onscreen or in public – spent seven months training with vocal coach Eric Vetro and prosthetics designer Arjen Tuiten gave her a slightly larger, yet still negligible nose.

Jolie – who’s been shooting her role in Alice Winocour’s Paris-set drama Stitches – has yet to announce a release date for her sixth directorial effort Without Blood, which will be distributed worldwide by Fremantle.