Is Angelina Jolie trying to hold up her ongoing divorce case with Brad Pitt — which has already dragged on for almost four years — because things aren't going her way?
That's what a source close to the legal proceedings is claiming in light of the news that the actress-humanitarian has requested to disqualify the private judge handling their divorce case.
On Aug. 10, Angelina filed to get Judge John W. Ouderkirk — the private judge she and Brad hired to oversee their legal split as well as child custody and money issues, in order to maintain more privacy regarding personal and financial information — taken off their case. She alleges he's not been "forthcoming enough" about other cases he's been hired to work on that have ties to one of Brad's lawyers, Anne C. Kiley.
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The filing complains that the judge "failed to disclose the cases that demonstrated the current, ongoing, repeat-customer relationship between the judge and Respondent's counsel," Page Six reported, and that Brad's team wants the judge to remain.
A source close to the case characterizes Angelina's move as "a delay tactic," Page Six writes in a new report, "because she believed things weren't going in her favor."
Brad and Angelina were granted a bifurcated judgment in 2019, which means they're legally single and able to remarry should they desire, but custody and financial issues remain. The source told Page Six that it's these issues – a permanent custody agreement concerning their five children under 18 (eldest son Maddox is now an adult) and Angelina's request for more child support from Brad — that are at issue.
"This is about how much time Brad gets with the kids, how does sharing time with the kids work…" the source told Page Six.
"Jolie is basically trying to fire the private judge overseeing their divorce case. She has every right to do this, but if she thought she was in a good place in this legal proceeding, she wouldn't need to do it," the source explained to Page Six. "This is a classic case of someone expecting a bad decision trying to delay the process by asking for a new referee."
According to the source, her move is an "unusual" one because Angelina is now involving a public court in what they'd long sought to keep private, and it also serves to delay anything moving forward. "This divorce has been going on for four years, for goodness' sake," the source added.