Brad Pitt's Petition To Review Custody Case With Angelina Jolie Junked

The California Supreme Court has denied Brad Pitt’s petition to review his ongoing custody case with Angelina Jolie. He made the appeal in September after the disqualification of Judge John Ouderkirk, which automatically voided a previous ruling granting Pitt more time with his five minor children with Jolie.

The high court upheld on Wednesday the appellate court’s disqualification decision, stating, “Petition and stay denied.” With the decision, the custody arrangement now adheres to the November 2018 agreement regarding the former couple’s minor children — Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15, and twins Vivienne and Knoxx, 13.

Pitt’s camp told People that the court’s previous decision was based on a “technical procedural issue and the Supreme Court’s decision not to review that procedural issue does not change the extraordinary amount of factual evidence which led the trial judge—and the many experts who testified—to reach their clear conclusion about what is in the children’s best interests.”

A representative of Pitt also told the outlet that they would continue fighting for the actor’s right to his children. “We will continue to do everything that’s legally necessary based on the detailed findings of the independent experts,” said the representative.

Meanwhile, Jolie’s attorney said in a statement released on Wednesday that the actress welcomed the decision, saying she was pleased that her children’s wellbeing will not be guided by “unethical behavior.”

“As reinforced by California’s appellate courts, our judiciary prioritizes ethics and children’s best interests, and won’t tolerate judicial misconduct to reward the interests of a party. Ms. Jolie is glad for the family to now move forward cooperatively,” said the attorney.

Back in July, Ouderkirk was disqualified for “failure to make mandatory disclosures” about other legal proceedings involving Pitt’s legal counseling, which might “cause an objective person aware of all of the facts” to doubt the judge’s impartiality in the case.

In the petition filed by Pitt in September, he argued that the disqualification of Ouderkirk “raises serious questions as to whether the temporary judging system is a viable option in California’s severely backlogged judicial system.”