Angelina Jolie was hurt because Brad Pitt worked with Harvey Weinstein (Photo Credit – Wikimedia/Facebook)
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“It was hard for me when Brad did,” said Angelina Jolie, and yeah, we get it. That moment when her ex-husband, Brad Pitt, chose to work with Harvey Weinstein—after she’d already made it clear how much of a predator he was—still stings. You’d think he’d know better.
Jolie opened up in a The Guardian interview, spilling the details of her traumatic run-in with Weinstein when she was just 21, on the set of Playing By Heart in 1998. She was young, trying to make her mark in Hollywood, but Weinstein’s advances crossed a line. “The attempt and the experience of the attempt is an assault,” she said. And yet, she survived it, but the scars were deep. Jolie didn’t just walk away from Weinstein—she bolted, warned everyone in her circle, and never worked with him again.
But then came Brad. By 2009, he was starring in Inglourious Basterds, a film produced by Weinstein’s company. Three years later, he teamed up with Weinstein on Killing Them Softly as a producer. Cue the emotional whiplash. While Jolie had done everything she could to distance herself from the toxic mogul, Brad was cozying up to him professionally. “We fought about it,” she admitted. Of course, she did. And it wasn’t just a casual disagreement but a raw wound. This wasn’t about just a producer—it was about her trauma.
Brad’s choice to work with Weinstein left Jolie feeling like her experience was being brushed aside. “It hurt,” she confessed, and no Hollywood success can wash that away. To make things worse, Jolie even skipped promotional events for Killing Them Softly—not just because of the film, but because of the moral betrayal she felt at the core.
But the complexities didn’t end there. When Gwyneth Paltrow spoke up about Weinstein’s harassment back in the day, Brad took action, confronting Weinstein and telling him to back off. But when it came to Jolie, it was a different story. It wasn’t the first time their differing approaches to situations caused friction. But this? This felt personal.
Jolie’s past with Weinstein wasn’t just a “bad experience”—a dark chapter in her career that left her jaded about the industry’s power dynamics. #MeToo would later validate her fears, as women everywhere started to speak out about the monster behind the curtain. But even then, Jolie’s battle didn’t seem fully understood by those closest to her.
Weinstein, of course, eventually faced justice, with a 23-year sentence for his crimes. But for Jolie, the hurt from Brad’s actions still lingers—proof that even in the glitzy world of
Hollywood, personal betrayals hit harder than any on-screen drama. And as we look back, it’s clear: this wasn’t just about films. This was about the price of silence in a toxic industry.
