Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s high-profile divorce case has been ongoing for some time now. The two have a bifurcated divorce, meaning they are no longer married, but there are still details being worked out.
Now, one request that Angelina Jolie’s team had way back in August has been denied, resulting in a setback for the Eternals star.
In August, Angelina Jolie had called for the judge’s removal on her ongoing court case with Brad Pitt. At the time, Jolie’s team had argued that Judge John W. Ouderkirk had “failed to disclose the cases that demonstrated the current, ongoing, repeat-customer relationship between the judge and Respondent’s counsel.”
According to the latest information, however, the Superior Court of California in Orange County ruled that Jolie claim was not viable and was officially “denied.”
The Statement of disqualification seeks the disqualification of the temporary judge assigned to this case, Judge John Ouderkirk (Retired), pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 170.3, subdivision (c)(1). For the reasons set forth in detail [sic], this court finds that Judge Ouderkirk is not disqualified from serving as a temporary judge in this case. Therefore, the Statement of Disqualification is DENIED.
One new detail that is coming out about Judge John Ouderkirk is that he is well-known to both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, per The Daily Mail. While the latter’s legal team was attempting to say that Pitt’s legal team had an “ongoing” relationship with the judge, she is allegedly familiar with him as well.
The judge apparently even married the couple at their 2014 wedding. Furthermore, Jude John W. Ouderkirk had reportedly made the disclosures about working on other cases with Brad Pitt’s legal team in 2018 and Angelina Jolie’s team had not said anything at the time. It was only in August of 2020 that the filing was finally made.
This was one of many things being contested or in flux with the case, as Angelina Jolie also made a change to her legal team as one member, Priya Sopori, departed. Reportedly the two also cannot get on the same page about the holidays.
As a whole, the divorce case is a little bit of an unusual one, given it is a bifurcated divorce and given it has been ongoing for quite some time. Because of the type of divorce, the two are legally single, but if this latest update is any indication, there are still details that need to be worked out between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Things have not seemed copacetic in the courtroom in recent months, either, as both Pitt and Jolie’s lawyers have had some statements regarding each others’ tactics. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie initially split all the way back in 2016. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as all of these nitty gritty details related to splitting up their lives, their time and their assets get worked out.