Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are famous American actors. They were called “Brangelina” in newspapers, magazines, and on TV. They started dating 12 years ago, and they have been married for 2 years.

On September 20, 2016, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt.

It is always sad when a relationship ends, but this is a good opportunity to learn some English words about celebrities, relationships, and divorce.

Learn more: English Vocabulary: Dating

 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have split up.

Angelina has ended her relationship with Brad. There are two phrasal verbs in English that are commonly used to talk about the end of a relationship: break up and split up.

You can use both phrasal verbs to talk about the end of any romantic relationship, even if the people were not married.

One person can break up with or split up with another person, or the couple can decide together that they are going to break up or split up.

Break up is more common. Split up is more informal.

Learn more: English Vocabulary: The End of a Relationship

 

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce.

A divorce is the legal end of a marriage. You must ask a judge in a court of law to end the marriage. The process involves a lot of legal documents. These documents must be filed, or taken to the courthouse and given to an official in the courthouse.

file for divorce = start the process of ending a marriage by giving someone the required official paperwork, in this case legal documents

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt on September 20, 2016.

In many states in the US, you have to say why you want a divorce. In the divorce forms filed by Angelina Jolie, she cites irreconcilable differences. You hear this term a lot in American TV shows and movies. It’s a legal term that is one of the choices on the legal divorce forms. It means that the couple has problems or wants very different things, and they cannot solve their problems.

Learn more: English Vocabulary: Marriage

 

She wants sole physical custody of her kids.

Brad and Angelina have 6 children. Three of the children are adopted, and 3 of the children are biological children.

Custody is another legal term. A person who has custody of her children has the legal right to take care of her children. She is responsible for the children and protects them.

Physical custody means that the children will live permanently with Angelina. Brad can visit them, but the children cannot live with him.

Sole custody means that Angelina is the only person who can legally take care of the children. If Brad and Angelina had joint custody, both of them could legally take care of the children.

 

 

TMZ broke the story.

TMZ.com is a popular celebrity gossip and news website. It was the first news company to report the information that Angelina had filed for divorce. It published the information on its website before any other news company.

The verb break is often used when important news is told to the public for the first time by a news company, like a newspaper, or radio or TV news program.

On social media or on TV, you may see or hear the phrase breaking news. It is used to identify new information.

 

Why? Rumors are swirling. Sources say …

People who are interested in this story want to know what happened and why Angelina wants a divorce.

A rumor is information that people share with each other that may or may not be true. It is information that you heard or read, or that someone told you. You can start a rumor or spread a rumor, and you can hear a rumor.

When a lot of people are talking about something but nobody knows the truth, news reports will say rumors are swirling.

When you talk about a rumour, you can say:

I heard that …

I read that …

… Brad has a substance abuse problem.
I read that Angelina thinks he drinks too much and smokes too much weed (marijuana). A problem with alcohol and drugs is often called substance abuse.

… Brad has anger issues.
I read that Brad was drunk on a flight back to the US and he may have been violent with his son.

Saying that someone has issues or has issues with something has become a common, informal way of saying that someone has problems.

… Brad cheated on Angelina with his costar.
This rumor is not true, but I wanted to include it so I could explain the phrasal verb cheat on someone.

If you cheat on your romantic partner (boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, or husband) you have sex with someone else.

He cheated on her with her best friend.
He had sex with his girlfriend’s/wife’s best friend.

 
… Angelina wants to move to London with the children and start a career in politics.
Angelina has been very involved in humanitarian causes for the past few years. She has traveled around the world helping people. I read that she now wants to become more involved with politics.