Angelina Jolie reveals she divorced Brad Pitt for the ‘wellbeing’ of her family

Angelina Jolie has revealed she split with Brad Pitt for the “wellbeing” of her family as she continues to “focus on their healing”.

The Hollywood actress said it was the “right decision” to end the marriage after little more than two years, and she praised their children for being “six very brave, very strong people”.

“Some have taken the advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds,” she told Vogue Global Network.

Jolie, now 45, first met her future spouse in 2005 when they both starred in Mr & Mrs Smith.

They tied the knot in August 2014 in the south of France, but by September 2016 Jolie had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

The couple have six children together – three biological children and three adopted.

In the interview, the Maleficent star said she initially had doubts about adopting her eldest sons, Maddox and Pax, who are originally from Cambodia and Vietnam – pointing to the “complex history” shared by both nations.

Cambodia and Vietnam were embroiled in conflict with each other during the 1970s and 80s.

But Jolie said it was seeing a picture of a Vietnamese fighter held captive by US soldiers in a human rights book that helped finalise her decision.

She said: “I thought of my own country and our involvement in Southeast Asia.

“I thought of focusing on a future where we were all family. I am very blessed to have been allowed to be their mum.

“I am grateful every day.”

Speaking about the challenges of raising children from biological and adoptive backgrounds, she said each was “a beautiful way of becoming a family” and stressed the importance of speaking about it with “openness”.

She added: “Adoption and orphanage are positive words in our home.

“With my adopted children, I can’t speak of pregnancy, but I speak with much detail and love about the journey to find them and what it was like to look in their eyes for the first time.

“All adopted children come with a beautiful mystery of a world that is meeting yours.”

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Speaking ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, Jolie also addressed the importance of her children being able to be proud of their heritage.

She said they must “never lose touch of where they come from”, and added that they must “honour” their backgrounds and “learn from them”.

“It’s the most amazing journey to share,” she said.

“They are not entering your world, you are entering each other’s worlds.”

(c) Sky News 2020: Angelina Jolie reveals she divorced Brad Pitt for the ‘wellbeing’ of her family