How Did Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Go From A-List Darlings to Battling Exes?

Check out a timeline of Brangelina's road to divorce

By Corinne Heller Dec 16, 2016 5:27 PMTags

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's love life took a 180-degree turn in 2016.

A little more than a year ago, the two gave a rare, joint interview on the Today Show to talk about their personal and working relationship. They were promoting their new film, By the Sea, in which they play a couple in a volatile relationship. Jolie said that unlike that pair, she and Pitt were "actually very, very stable."

It would be their last joint interview.

Fast-forward to September of this year: Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt after two years of marriage.

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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Kids Through the Years
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

In her divorce filing, Jolie sought physical custody of their six kids—Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Knox and Viviennne, and asked that Pitt receive visitation rights. He sought joint custody.

Jolie listed Sept. 15 as the date of their separation, which reportedly followed an alleged incident between the actor and one of their children aboard a private plane. In November, the FBI officially closed an investigation into the case. Earlier this month, Jolie and Pitt reached a temporary custody agreement, under which the actor will continue to have "therapeutic visitation" with the children and attend weekly individual therapy sessions.

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Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie's Famous Exes
REX/Shutterstock

The news that "Brangelina," the most famous couple in Hollywood, appeared to come out of nowhere.

But did it? Were there any warning signs? Apparent tension between the two?

It's hard to say, because Jolie and Pitt are among some of the most private celebrities, so we hardly get to see them by themselves, let alone together.

The last time they were photographed together at a celebrity event was in November 2015, at the premiere of By the Sea at AFI Fest, and they looked pretty cozy and happy.

Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images

However, this year, the two appeared to largely stay out of the spotlight and spent much time apart.

Jolie concentrated on her work as a UNHCR Goodwill ambassador and has also spent time alone with the couple's kids. In June, three months before her divorce filing, Jolie took the children on a trip to New York, where they saw the Broadway musical Hamilton. Pitt was in France and Los Angeles at the time.

The two reunited in L.A. the following month, during which they were spotted going shopping together with their kids at a grocery store and pharmacy and also photographed cuddling inside a Jamba Juice. Pitt later jetted off by himself to New York for a couple of days.

In September, less than two weeks before she filed for divorce, Jolie traveled to London alone to speak at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial and also flew to Jordan without Pitt to visit Syrian refugees.

Jordan Pix/Getty Images
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Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie: Romance Recap

Jolie hasn't attended a celebrity event since she walked the red carpet with the kids, without Pitt, at the Kung Fu Panda 3 premiere in Los Angeles in January.

A week beforehand, Pitt had attended the 2016 Golden Globes without her.

The actor has laid low most of this year as well; He spent several months filming Allied with Marion Cotillard and spent much of November walking red carpets around the world with the actress to promote the film.

"Angelina is very dedicated to her work with the United Nations and working on other charitable endeavors while Brad is consumed with his film projects," a source had told E! News in September. "Both of their interests have taken them across the world but not together but in different directions."

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