Angelina Jolie takes a swipe at ex Brad Pitt as she declares that her fighting spirit is 'finally back' after bitter divorce... thanks to her kids

Angelina Jolie took a brutal swipe at her ex-husband Brad Pitt and his estranged relationship with their six kids while speaking on life after their bitter divorce.

The couple split in 2016 after 12 years together - though the divorce wasn't finalized until 2024 due to a lengthy court war over custody and assets. 

They share three biological children: Shiloh, 20, as well as 17-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. They are also parents to Maddox, 24, Pax, 22 and Zahara, 21.

While speaking to Variety about her latest film Couture, Jolie, 51, declared that her 'fighting spirit' is finally back and that her children are to thank for it.

The Oscar-winner also gloated that her kids 'still like [her], which says a lot.'

The remarks appeared to be a dig at Pitt, 62, who has had little to no contact with his children in recent years amid claims of 'parental alienation' on Jolie's part. 

It also comes as all six of the children have dropped the Pitt surname, with the latest being his youngest Knox, who reportedly went by 'Jolie' on his high school diploma. 

'I think my fighting spirit is finally back. I lost it for a bit,' Jolie revealed in a joint interview with Couture director Alice Winocour published on Wednesday.

'I got kind of taken down a little bit and it's coming back in large part thanks to my children, who are now older, and encouraging it.'

Jolie then shared what her children 'want' for her now that they are all almost adults.

'My kids are almost all 18, so now they want to see me traveling the world, they want me to get out and do things.

'They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot.'

Jolie said that her kids are 'very encouraging of me kind of getting back to aspects of myself that maybe I hadn't felt as free to do.'

One of those aspects was acting as Jolie revealed that she had basically quit the craft prior to ending her marriage to Pitt in 2016. 

'I had kind of quit acting before my divorce. I was focusing on directing, and I thought I'd be doing my international work,' she explained.

'But then suddenly the only way to be home more and for short periods of time being away or to make a good amount of money, was to go back to acting.

'I was only taking things that were short or close by or I could take [my children].'

Jolie then spoke about losing both her mother and grandmother to cancer and how she often feels like 'time's running out' with her kids.

'I think having lost my mom young and never met my grandmother, I have never lived feeling like I'm going to have a long life.

'I'm already past the age when my mother was diagnosed. I may struggle from almost feeling like I can't live in the moment because I feel like I have to push and rush because time's running out.'

In Couture, Jolie plays a filmmaker who learns she's been diagnosed with breast cancer after arriving for Paris Fashion Week to shoot a project.

The film, which is set for a June 26 theatrical release, is deeply personal to Jolie as her mother died from complications of breast and ovarian cancer back in 2007.

Jolie underwent a preventative double mastectomy back in 2013 after discovering she carries a genetic mutation that dramatically increases the chance of being diagnosed with potentially fatal breast cancer.

She heartbreakingly admitted to Variety that she raises her six kids 'almost preparing them for my absence and not as much preparing to be a grandmother.

'That's what happens when you consider death as a reality.'

Earlier in the interview, Jolie was asked if she considers herself 'punk' at age 51, which inspired her to speak on the importance of 'privacy' in her life post-divorce.

'I think I'm more punk now,' she admitted, adding that 'punk' to her is 'kind of the counter movement to a lot of what's happening.

'So even sometimes my privacy or not completely being sucked into a lot of things or movements - sometimes the doing less, or being private, when the world is the way it is right now, that is an opposite.'

Jolie's shockingly candid remarks come just days after it was revealed that her and Pitt's son Knox dropped the actor's last name from his high school diploma.

The 17-year-old removed the last name of Pitt as he graduated from Fusion Academy in Los Angeles earlier this month, per Page Six. 

Instead, the teen's name was simply listed as Knox Jolie on the official certificate. 

Knox was cheered on by his mother Angelina Jolie at the graduation ceremony as well as brother Pax, twin sister Vivienne and sister Zahara. 

Pitt and Jolie were previously married from 2014 until their divorce became legal in 2019. 

And in late 2024, it was revealed that the former couple had reached a divorce settlement following a lengthy, eight-year battle. 

The two stars share three biological children Shiloh, 20, as well as twins Knox and Vivienne. They also share Maddox, 24, Pax, 22 and Zahara, 21. 

It was also recently revealed by InTouch that Pitt and Jolie's daughter Zahara was making legal moves to remove Pitt from her last name.

The next day, TMZ obtained a petition Zahara filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, where she asked for her new legal name to be Zahara Marley Jolie.

She has not been using Pitt's last name for many years. Pitt was notably absent from her name when she joined a sorority at Spelman College three years ago.

And in May, Zahara did not use the name Pitt when graduating from Spelman College. Jolie had also been in attendance at the ceremony. 

Another source told TMZ that Pitt thinks Jolie is keeping their children from seeing him.

Jolie and Pitt were raising six children together before she filed for divorce in 2016.

Their kids Shiloh, Maddox, and Vivienne have also stopped using Pitt's last name. It is not known if Pax has stopped using the name as well.

It was confirmed by the Daily Mail back in May that Maddox requested to legally remove 'Pitt' from his surname. 

He is changing his full name to Maddox Chivan Jolie and listed the reasoning as 'personal.' 

Back in 2024, Vivienne also dropped her dad's last name in a Playbill credit for The Outsiders. 

That same year, Shiloh dropped Pitt from her name shortly after her 18th birthday.

At the time, a source told the Daily Mail: 'He knew this was coming and there is nothing he can do about it right now.

'It's sad but Brad's strained relationship with his kids and Angelina is just a way of life for him now.'

However, the insider further explained that the actor has always left the door open if his estranged children wanted to reconnect. 

'He respects Shiloh's decision. He loves her and no matter what happens, he is always only a phone call away. 

'He will be there for Shiloh and any of his kids whenever they need, no questions asked. But it's up to them to make the next move.'

A separate source stated that Pitt 'knows that, with some of the other kids who are not biologically his children, they do not understand and may never allow him back into their lives.'

Back in 2016, Pitt and Jolie's relationship came to an explosive end after the pair got into an alleged physical altercation while on a private flight with their six kids.

Jolie later claimed that Pitt 'choked' one of the children during the horrifying dispute and 'struck' another in the face, leaving her and the kids feeling like 'hostages' and cowering in fear under a blanket for hours until they landed.

She also alleged that he grabbed her by the head, slammed her against a wall, and violently shook her at one point during the flight - which resulted in her injuring her back and elbow.

Pitt's rep called Jolie's account 'completely untrue' to CNN at first, but then released an amended statement to the publication that read, 'Angelina's story continues to evolve each time she tells it.

'Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn't do. He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.

'Thankfully, the various public authorities she has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions.'

The statement at the time also read, 'Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.'

The F1 actor has been romantically linked to Ines de Ramon since 2022.