Breaking : Angelina Jolie’s Kids “Wanted Her to Defend Herself” Publicly Amid Her Divorce From Brad Pitt To…See More

Angelina Jolie’s kids wanted their mom to speak up publicly amid her divorce from Brad Pitt. According to a source close to the actress, her six children—Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne—whom she shares with Pitt “wanted her to speak up for herself” during her years-long battle with their dad.

“She’s been trying hard to be light after a dark time,” the source told People, adding that Jolie “doesn’t speak ill of Pitt publicly or privately.” They continued, “The kids have grown up seeing that some people have so much power and privilege that their voices don’t matter. Their pain doesn’t count.”

The insider noted that the children encouraged Jolie to be more outspoken, but that she refused to air the former couple’s dirty laundry to the world. “They have wanted her to speak up for herself, to defend herself over these years but she reminds them to focus on changing laws over telling public stories,” the source explained.

Earlier this week, Jolie’s lawyers revealed that her and Pitt’s divorce was finalized after eight years on Monday, December 30. “More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” one of Jolie’s lawyers, James Simon, said in a statement. “This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”

And while Jolie has kept the details of her divorce mostly private—perhaps to the dismay of her children—she has previously hinted at a “very dark” time in her life. “I went very dark for reasons I’d rather not explain, but I didn’t have a lot of light and life within me,” Jolie said of her decision to step away from the spotlight for several years during a recent interview with Vanity Fair. She added, “Your light’s dim.”

Jolie and Pitt met on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2005 and dated for nine years before getting married in 2014. Jolie filed for divorce two years later after a private-plane incident, in which Pitt allegedly became abusive towards the actress and their children. He was not charged by authorities after investigations at the time and Jolie declined to press charges.