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Angelina Jolie on split with Brad Pitt: 'We will always be a family'

Angelina Jolie opened up for the first time publicly about her divorce from Brad Pitt, saying her focus is on her six children during "a difficult time."
/ Source: TODAY

Speaking publicly for the first time since filing for divorce from Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie said it has been "a difficult time" in which she remains focused on the couple's six children.

Jolie was in Cambodia with her children promoting the new film she has directed, "First They Killed My Father," when she spoke with BBC World News on Sunday about her split.

"I don’t want to say very much about that, except to say it was a very difficult time and we are a family and we will always be a family, and we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it," she told the news organization.

RELATED: Angelina Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September, just weeks after their second wedding anniversary, ending one of Hollywood's most high-profile marriages.

Angelina Jolie in Cambodia with her kids
The couple's six children were with Jolie in Cambodia over the weekend as she promoted her new film. Mak Remissa / EPA

They had been together for 11 years, the last two of them as a married couple. The pair first became acquainted on the set of their 2005 film, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," when Pitt was still married to actress Jennifer Aniston. That same year, Jolie denied reports that a romance between them began before Pitt and Aniston split.

They have six children tog

ether — Pax, 15; Shiloh,10; Maddox, 15; Zahara, 12; and 8-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

"My focus is my children, our children, and my focus is finding this way through," Jolie told BBC World News.

Angelina Jolie in Cambodia
Angelina Jolie opened up for the first time publicly about her family's difficult time since filing for divorce from husband Brad Pitt. Mak Remissa / EPA

She cited "irreconcilable differences" in court papers obtained by NBC News in which she sought physical custody of the children with Pitt granted visitation.

This followed an alleged incident on a private jet as the family returned to Los Angeles to France that was investigated by the L.A. Department of Children and Family Services, which determined that the allegations against Pitt were not substantiated.

The couple reached an agreement in January to seal the custody documents as they work toward a divorce settlement.

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