Brad Pitt is “terrified the public will learn the truth” about the breakdown of their marriage, his estranged wife Angelina Jolie has claimed in court documents.
In the latest round of their divorce proceedings the Hollywood couple agreed that details should be sealed.
But in documents obtained by TMZ, Jolie’s lawyer Laura Wasser said Pitt was attempting to “deflect from his own role in the media storm which has engulfed the parties’ children”.
The documents said: “There is little doubt that he would prefer to keep the entire case private, particularly given the detailed investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Children and Family Services into allegation of abuse.”
Jolie filed for divorce in September after Pitt was involved in a disturbance during a private flight with his family.
Pitt was exonerated when investigations by the FBI and Department of Children and Family Services concluded no action was necessary.
Jolie cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce.
The following month it was agreed that she would have sole custody of their six children, aged eight to 15, with “therapeutic visits” to them from Pitt.
Then, last month, Pitt’s lawyers accused Jolie of leaking details of the custody agreement.
They accused her of “continuing to place her own interests above those of the minor children and to disregard their privacy rights when she believes it may benefit her”.
Pitt’s lawyers added: “She apparently has no self-regulating mechanism to preclude sensitive information from being place in the public record.”
Joile’s camp responded to that by saying the allegation was “false” and she had remained “absolutely silent” about what happened on the plane.
Following the most recent agreement to seal documents a source close to the case told People magazine: “It’s nice to see that she has finally come around to supporting the sealing of documents weeks after he requested this action.”