An appeals court in California has dismissed the judge Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had hired to adjudicate their divorce proceedings, Page Six is reporting.
Jolie had filed an appeal motion before Judge John W. Ouderkirk‘s decision in May that ultimately awarded Pitt more time with their minor children: adopted daughters Pax, 17, and Zahara, 16, as well as the couple’s three biological children: Shiloh, 14, and twins Knox and Vivienne, who turn 13 in July. The couple’s eldest adopted child Maddox is 19, and as such wasn’t part of the custody situation.
However, the appeals court just agreed with Jolie, ruling Ouderkirk didn’t appropriately disclose “business relationships with Pitt’s attorneys.”
According to the publication, the appeals court ruled disqualification was “required,” noting, “Judge Ouderkirk’s ethical breach, considered together with …his recent professional relationships with Pitt’s counsel, might cause an objective person…to entertain a doubt as to the judge’s ability to be impartial.”
The 46-year-old Jolie and Pitt, 57, split in 2016 after 2 years of marriage, but 12 years together. They were legally divorced in April 2019, but chose at the time to mediate custody and other issues separately via a private judge for the purposes of discretion.
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