Angelina Jolie is currently riding a professional high. Maria is her first lead role in a mainstream film in many years, and the film premiered to widespread acclaim in Venice and Telluride. People are already talking about her potential Oscar campaign for Best Actress. Her personal life is going well these days too – her kids are happy and healthy (minus Pax’s recent accident) and everyone seems well-adjusted and engaged. None of the kids want anything to do with Brad Pitt, which is fine because he moved out of LA and he’s more focused on his fauxmance with Ines de Ramon. Brad and Ines made their big red-carpet debut in Venice just a few days after Angelina left town. Well, it looks like Brad is salty that Angelina is getting so much positive attention, because magically, look at People Mag’s cover story: “Can They Finally Move On?” Hey, People editors, you’re asking this about a man who abused his wife and children AND THEN SUED HER for legally selling her half of their shared property. Surely the better question is: can Brad move on?

The night before the[Wolfs] premiere, Pitt and de Ramon, who have been together in Europe while the actor shoots his racing film F1, joined Clooney and his wife, Amal, for dinner at Ristorante da Ivo, where they happily joked with fellow diners. As Clooney pretended to be a waiter, “his sidekick was Brad Pitt,” says a guest. “Who will ever believe us?”

Those well-orchestrated, separate presences at the festival could be seen as a master class in keeping the peace. Despite it being nearly eight years since Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt on Sept. 20, 2016, the two, who were ruled legally single in 2019, have yet to finalize the details of their split as they’ve endured a contentious legal battle over finances and custody of their kids Maddox, 23, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

In the past few years, a separate court fight over Château Miraval, the French villa and winery they bought in 2012 for an estimated $60 million, has opened a new public front in their war. The couple launched Miraval wines in 2013, and the first 6,000 bottles of rosé they produced sold out in five hours.

Now as the former couple rev up their careers with bold new films, a Pitt source insists “he’s not rooting against” Jolie, and a source close to her contends she finds the situation “incredibly sad.” Their events in Venice were “of course” spread out, festival artistic director Alberto Barbera told press, leaving “no way that they can cross each other.”

While the world waits for the exes’ split saga to finally conclude, those closest to them find it “shocking” that they still “can’t find a resolution and finalize the divorce,” says an insider. The focus for now remains on their kids and a desire to “at least resolve the matrimonial side of things while the Miraval case plays out,” another insider adds. “Hopefully they can both get on the same page.”

[From People]

Those closest to them find it “shocking” that they still “can’t find a resolution and finalize the divorce.” What I find shocking is every move Angelina has made to extract herself from Brad legally, financially, physically and emotionally has resulted in nothing but smears, lies, tantrums, financial abuse and lawsuits from Brad. Brad is “not rooting against” Angelina? That’s not what it looks like. It looks like Angelina’s toxic and abusive ex-husband is desperately trying to attach himself to her recent good press. And the more Brad’s side publicly pressures Angelina to “get on the same page,” the more convinced I am that Brad is the one holding up the divorce.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images. Cover courtesy of People.