Angelina Jolie revealed that she was diagnosed last year with Bell’s palsy, a form of temporary facial paralysis caused by damage or trauma to the facial nerves. The condition caused one side of her face to droop. She has also been diagnosed with hypertension.
The exact cause of Bell’s palsy is unknown, but doctors have a theory. “Once other potential causes of facial paralysis are excluded, including tumor, Lyme disease, and shingles, the specific cause of Bell palsy is usually not identified,” said David Simpson, MD, professor of neurology and neuromuscular diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “The major prevailing theory concerning the cause of Bell palsy is that it is an immune reaction of the facial nerve in response to a viral infection,” Dr. Simpson added. He said treatment can include measures to protect the exposed cornea of the eye if blinking is impaired, including use of artificial tears or lubricating ointment and wearing a patch at night. “Fortunately most patients make an excellent recovery.”
Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016 after two years of marriage and 12 years together. The former couple are parents to six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17, and 15-year-old twins, Knox and Vivienne. Since then, the pair have been embroiled in divorce proceedings concerning child custody and disagreements over their various properties.
Prior to their divorce, Jolie and Pitt purchased French vineyard Château Miraval together in 2008 for a reported £20m. In 2021, the Girl, Interrupted star sold her stake in the French winery to a subsidiary of Stoli Group, owned by Russian-British businessman Yuri Shefler. This prompted a lawsuit from Pitt, who claimed Jolie’s stake was sold without his approval and a violation of his “contractual rights”
She filed a cross-complaint in October 2022, which contained allegations that Pitt had “choked” one of their children onboard a private jet in 2016. The court filings, which were obtained by The New York Times, claimed that Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her”. The filing also states that, at one point, “he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children”.
