Fact Check

Angelina Jolie to Send All Six Children Back to an Orphanage

A fake news site reported Angelina Jolie was returning her adopted children to orphanages following her breakup with Brad Pitt.

Published Oct. 4, 2016

Claim:
After breaking up with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie decided to return her adopted children to orphanages in order to focus on her career.

On 20 September 2016, actress Angelina Jolie's filing for divorce from her actor husband Brad Pitt was international headline news. Shortly afterwards, what appeared to be a news article reporting that Jolie was sending her adopted children "back" to orphanages in order to concentrate on her film career:

According to latest reports, Angelina Jolie has decided she does not want her 6 adopted children anymore and is reportedly sending them back to the orphanage to focus on the upcoming film Maleficent 2, which she agreed to star in.

Many are stunned by the separation of one of Hollywoods most loved couples. According to reports, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce after she found out Pitt was having an affair with Marion Cotillard.

However, probably even more shocking than that, came afterward when Jolie told reporters she would give away her 6 beautiful adopted children, telling reporters “These children remind me of that lowlife scumbag i used to call my husband, i never want to see them again, i’m sending them to Africa. I need to focus on my career and Malificent Two, which i will be in."

However, readers who scrolled to the bottom of the page might have noticed the following disclaimer indicating that the publishing web site, TheNoChill, was an "entertainment" (i.e., fake news) site:

TheNoChill.com is the most notorious entertainment website in the world founded by Pancho Villa in 1922. Shared by trillions around the world.

Angelina Jolie's filing for divorce triggered a media frenzy along with several opportunist rumors. In the immediate wake of the news, Brad Pitt became the subject of an Internet celebrity death hoax (as had Angelina Jolie a month earlier), a schlocky love memoir, and satirical remarks attributed to former wife Jennifer Aniston.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.