Angelina Jolie has continued to ramp up her social media presence after joining Instagram on August 20.
On Friday, the 46-year-old actress shared rare photos of daughters Zahara, 16, and Shiloh, 15, doing their summer reading with her 10.2million followers.
Angelina — who shares all six of her children with ex Brad Pitt — recently confessed that she feared for the ‘safety’ of her kids throughout the course of their marriage.
Mama bear: The 46-year-old actress shared rare snaps of her daughters Zahara, 16, and Shiloh, 15, doing their summer reading as she continues to make her presence known on Instagram; pictured 2016
The Maleficent actress posted a snap of adopted daughter Zahara reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, and another of Shiloh reading The Dark Lady by Akala.
‘End of #summerreading. These are some of the favorites in our house. Would love to know yours,’ she wrote.
She had spoken to HELLO! about the challenges of homeschooling amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
‘I have four different schools going on with six different kids, so it’s all different. I’m also terrible with math and I question history, so I’m a really challenged parent when it comes to a lot of this stuff.
‘Fortunately, I have very capable, smart children. They are getting through, but it’s hard,’ she added.
Zahara: Her adopted daughter was snapped reading The Bluest Eye as part of her ‘summer reading’
Shiloh: Her eldest biological child was seen with her head in the pages of The Dark Lady
Us Weekly reported in April 2020, that amid her ongoing custody battle with Pitt, the pair had come to an agreement on ‘traditional schooling’ for the kids.
‘Brad wants the kids to be in a school setting, and not isolated being homeschooled,’ the insider said adding that the children’s therapist had also recommended it.
Eldest son Maddox, 19, is a student at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea but had returned home to take virtual classes amid the pandemic.
Angelina’s post comes shortly after she spoke out publicly about her marriage to Pitt, while promoting her new book Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth.
Fiercely protective over her brood which includes Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, Pax, 17, and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, amid a ruthless custody battle, she told The Guardian that she ‘feared’ for the safety of her kids during the marriage.
‘Yes, for my family. My whole family,’ she said.
Brood: She and Pitt share six kids (L to R) Knox and Vivienne 12, Pax, 17, Shiloh, 15, Zahara, 16 and Maddox, 19; pictured 2019
When the outlet asked her to explain what caused her to fear for their safety she said that she ‘can’t speak about’ it because of her legal situation.
It was added that she ‘confirmed by nodding that she was alluding to her divorce and the allegations of domestic abuse she made against Pitt.’
One particular report of abuse was that Pitt had gotten into an alcohol-fueled violent screaming match with Jolie, prompting Maddox, 19, to defend his mother.
In the interview she called the situation ‘horrific’ but said: ‘It doesn’t start with the violation [the plane incident]. It’s so much more complicated than that.’
The Girl Interrupted star added: ‘It took a lot for me to be in a position where I felt I had to separate from the father of my children,’ adding: ‘There’s a lot I can’t say.’
Angelina filed to absolve their marriage in 2016 after two years, and said in a June 2020 interview with Vogue India that it was for ‘the well-being of my family,’ adding ‘it was the right decision.’
Custody battle: Angelina filed to absolve their marriage in 2016 after two years of marriage and although they were ruled legally single in April 2020 the divorce has yet to be finalized; pictured 2015
Jolie was granted temporary custody over all six children and Brad was granted visitation rights with a court-appointed therapist present.
In 2018, a court ruled in favor of Brad after he alleged that Angelina was preventing the children from having a consistent relationship with him. He was given a temporary summer custody that allowed him to spend time with the kids without Jolie present.
She then alleged that summer that he had not been paying ‘meaningful’ child support for over a year, with Pitt retorting that he had loaned Angelina $8M and given an additional $1.8M to help with bills.
The custody trial was supposed to begin in November 2018 but the two reached an agreement instead, as it was in the best interest of the children and eliminated the need for a trial.
The pair were ruled ‘legally single’ in April 2020 but the status did not finalize the custody battle, as Brad continued to seek joint custody — which he finally got in May 2021.
Custody battle: Though Pitt had been awarded joint custody in May 2021, the private judge who presided over the case, John W. Ouderkirk, was disqualified making the custody ruling null and void; pictured July 22
However, in July, Judge John W. Ouderkirk — the private judge overseeing both the divorce and custody case independently — was disqualified after it was said he had not sufficiently disclosed financial relationships with Pitt’s attorneys.
The ruling vacated all of Ouderkirk’s decisions — including the joint custody ruling — which means Angelina retains full-time custody at this time. As Maddox is not a minor the decision does not apply to him.
Pitt is now going to the California Supreme Court to request a review of the California appellate court’s ruling to disqualify the private judge.
Jolie’s attorney Robert Olson told ET on September 1, that the petition to the California Supreme Court ‘displays how they are clinging to this private judge who exhibited bias and refused statutorily required evidence.’
Head to head: After full custody was reinstated to Jolie in July, Pitt is now going to the California Supreme Court to request a review of the California appellate court’s ruling to disqualify the private judge, with his camp saying that the ruling was ‘crafty litigation’; pictured 2012
Her camp called it ‘disturbing’ that he would ‘seek to reinstate the private judge’ who exhibited ‘unethical behavior’ and said: ‘Ms. Jolie hopes Mr. Pitt will instead join with her in focusing on the children’s needs, voices, and healing.’
Brad’s attorney Theodore J. Boutrous stated that their decision to go to the Supreme Court was due to the fact that the judge was ‘improperly disqualified after providing a detailed, fact-based custodial decision, following a lengthy legal process with multiple witnesses and experts.’
His camp added that the ruling caused ‘irreparable harm to both the children and families’ involved in the case and said that ‘allowing this kind of crafty litigation’ deprives parents of ‘irreplaceable time with their children as judges are disqualified for minor reasons in the midst of their cases.’