Angelina Jolie's dad gives verdict on 'break-up'

Angelina Jolie's once-estranged father Jon Voight has piped up and offered his take on the searing speculation engulfing his daughter's relationship with Brad Pitt.

The big screen icon, who reportedly buried the hatchet and ended a seven-year rift with Jolie late last year, has thrown his hat in the ring and trashed the break-up rumours.

Speaking to celebrity news website Access Hollywood, the Deliverance star dismissed the tabloid-generated talk as "nonsense".

Speculation surfaced on Sunday that Brangelina - who have been together for five years - had pulled the plug on their relationship and consulted a divorce lawyer to divvy out their assets.

British tabloid the News of the World claimed the pair met with a Los Angeles-based lawyer in January to arrange an amicable separation.

The report claimed the powerhouse pair had come to an agreement on the division of their reported US$330 million wealth, and joint custody of their six kids.

"The document was signed in early January," a source told the tabloid. "Both Brad and Angelina had signed it.

"The contract was like a tailor-made version of a pre-nuptial agreement except for an unmarried couple's split."

All made up

The 'break-up' rumours ignited a media storm and roused a sea of speculation concerning the pair's relationship.

Countering chatter that the Hollywood super-couple's romance was over, a legion of 'insiders' claiming to be in Brangelina's inner-sanctum rubbished the split talk and branded them "totally false".

And so too has Voight, who has had a notoriously rocky relationship with Jolie after he appeared on US TV in 2001 and begged (through tears) his daughter to get some help for her "serious mental problems."

Quizzed about the break-up gossip, Voight said: "Nonsense. It's all made up stuff."

He does have a point.

While Brangelina may be keeping mum about the rumours, that hasn't stopped practically anything with a pulse from lip-smacking. Yep, suddenly the whole world's a critic.

Seemingly adding much-needed gravity to the argument that Brad and Ange are still a couple is this latest morsel from People magazine.

Sources tell the magazine that the pair - who are not married - weren't losing any sleep over the split reports. They were in fact enjoying an intimate dinner together when the News of the World's story broke.

"Angelina and Brad were actually out to dinner together in Los Angeles when the rumour broke," says the source.

"That's how ridiculous the story is."

Meanwhile, our insider (Fenella to you and me) reveals that Brad and Ange DID in fact visit a law firm in Los Angeles recently, but not to discuss a split. The suggestion is they actually met a lawyer to prepare a pre-nuptial agreement.

"Brad and Angelina had a meeting with a top law firm in Los Angeles in December, where they worked out terms of a legal document similar to a pre-nup", said another source to Life & Style magazine.

"The couple signed the document in early January. They agreed to share their money and assets and custody of their six children, all of whom would live with Angelina in the event of their parents' break-up."

Adding: "They didn't talk to the lawyer about splitting, nor was that ever mentioned at the meeting."

Finally, some logic.

Our inner-barometer tells us Brangelina did visit a lawyer as has been reported, but not to dissolve their partnership. Drafting a pre-nup is surely par for the course for a couple in their position - six kids to safeguard and assets to consolidate and protect.

Here's one out of the box: What if they're just future-proofing their relationship?

Tribute

Meanwhile, in a manoeuvre that might help divert attention from the idle gossip, Jolie has made a touching public tribute to her late mother Marcheline Bertrand.

Jolie and her brother James Haven, who lost their mother to ovarian cancer three years ago, have put together a video tribute to her on YouTube. The two-minute clip, titled To Mom With Love, was recorded during a trip to Hawaii in 1981.

"January 27, 2010 is the third Anniversary of Marcheline's passing. To commemorate this day, we are celebrating our memories of her with this home video," reads the text accompanying the video.

Watch the video here

Listen to the stunning rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, sung by Israel "Iz" Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole, and featured in Jolie's video, here

And that just about sums it all up. Strip it all back to brass tacks, brush aside the diverting brouhaha, and you're left with what really matters.

Don't get us wrong, we pray at the altar of gossip just as much as the next man, but sometimes, just sometimes, we all need look up from the puppets and see the strings.

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