Angelina Jolie Never Fled The U.S., One Year After National Enquirer Report

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One year ago, the National Enquirer claimed Angelina Jolie was “fleeing the country” and moving out of the U.S. Gossip Cop busted the untrue story when it originally came out. Now we’re taking a look back to see how our debunking held up over time.

On March 24, 2017, Gossip Cop examined an article from the supermarket tabloid that alleged Jolie was “hitting” estranged husband Brad Pitt “where it hurts” by “uprooting their kids to London.” The gossip magazine pointed out that the Oscar winner and humanitarian had signed on to teach at the London School of Economics, and maintained she was planning on “taking the children with her.” And, as opposed to Jolie being motivated by logistical, practical reasons, the outlet claimed she was only trying to “get back” at Pitt.

A so-called “insider” asserted Jolie was “humiliated and fearful that she may lose custody” of the kids after Pitt was cleared in a child abuse investigation, so she intended to “pick up and take them to another country.” The actor was supposedly aware of the purported plans to move, with the publication describing him as “besides himself” and feeling as if his family was “slipping away from him.” But there were a number of flaws in these contentions.

While Jolie was given temporary primary custody of their brood in the immediate aftermath of the couple’s 2016 breakup, the arrangement did not allow her to unilaterally decide to move the kids to another country. She, of course, can travel with the children, but such trips are typically negotiated with lawyers. If Jolie actually did try to permanently “uproot” her sons and daughters, all of whom are of minor age, without permission, she would’ve faced serious legal consequences. Though the tabloid insisted Pitt was “powerless to stop” her plans, that was not true, and Jolie had no legitimate grounds to “tear” the kids “away from Brad,” as wrongly claimed.

Of course, Jolie never had any intentions of moving, anyway, and her visiting professorship did not mean she would be living abroad full-time. For example, Jolie taught a seminar at LSE this past February, but she wasn’t actually living there beforehand or afterward. Similarly, Jolie and the kids took a trip to Paris this year, but they haven’t abandoned life in the States. In fact, just days ago Jolie went with some of the kids to a movie theater in Los Angeles.

This spring, Jolie is expected to return to London to film Maleficent 2. Gossip Cop won’t be surprised if that leads the gossip media to again start claiming she’s planning to ditch the U.S. and settle in the U.K. for good. But Jolie wasn’t fleeing the country 365 days ago and she won’t be doing so now. As the custody agreement with Pitt is still not finalized, California will continue to be considered the children’s home base, as well as Jolie’s own.