By OREORITSE TARIEMI

Brad Pitt’s petition appeal to disqualify the private judge in his custody battle with ex Angelina Jolie has been denied by the California Supreme Court.

Pitt’s lawyers had pushed that the court disqualifies the private judge hearing the case for failing to disclose his business relationships with Pitt’s attorneys sufficiently. 

However, on Wednesday, the California Supreme Court refused a review of a June appeals court decision closing the case on the appellate level.

The state Supreme Court’s decision finalised the Judge’s ruling closing the case on an appellate level. 

This means that Angelina Jolie retains full-time custody of the kids while her ex-husband has visitation rights. In July, Jolie’s legal team successfully disqualified a judge that had given Pitt joint custody of the kids. 

The actress’ attorney, Robert Olson, in a statement to E! News, said, “Ms. Jolie is focused on her family and pleased that her children’s wellbeing will not be guided by unethical behavior. She welcomes the California Supreme Court’s decision to refuse review of the unanimous Court of Appeal decision.”

His statement also read in part, “Ms. Jolie is glad for the family to now move forward cooperatively.”

Pitt’s spokesperson in a statement revealed that the Supreme Court’s decision not to review a “procedural” issue “does not change the extraordinary amount of factual evidence which led the trial judge—and the many experts who testified—to reach their clear conclusion about what is in the children’s best interests.” 

The couple who dated for twelve years got married in 2014. In 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, finalised in 2019 by former Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk. 

They have six children together: 20-year-old Maddox, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Zahara, 15-year-old Shiloh, 13-year-old Vivienne and 13-year-old Knox. 

However, only the five minor kids are subject to custody decisions.