Pitt-Jolie go public, celeb mags to court
LONDON – People and Hello! magazines launched legal action Wednesday against two Web sites that published a picture of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt with their newborn daughter.
Pitt and Jolie sold rights to the images of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, born May 27 in Namibia, through Getty Images photo agency. The couple said all proceeds would be donated to a charity, not yet named.
People magazine paid a reported $4 million for the right to release the pictures in North America, while Hello! obtained British rights.
The embargo on the images was broken when two gossip Web sites posted an apparent image of the front cover of Hello!
Hello! denies leaking the photo, saying its cover was kept strictly under wraps. The magazine said it and People “have taken immediate legal action to prevent publication of its cover prior to it going on sale” Thursday in Britain.
On Wednesday, Pitt and Jolie made their first public appearance since the birth of their daughter, thanking Namibia for the privacy and peace they enjoyed.
“We have been able to have a very special, peaceful time for our family here, exploring your country and more importantly helping with the delivery of our daughter Shiloh,” Pitt told a news conference for local journalists at a hotel in the coastal town of Swakopmund. “So for that we are eternally grateful.”
Jolie, 30, gave birth to Shiloh Nouvel at a private clinic in Walvis Bay. Delivered by Caesarean section, the baby weighed 7 pounds and was said to be in good health.
Pitt, 42, and Jolie retreated to the southwest African country with their children for government-assisted privacy in the weeks leading up to the birth. They plan to leave in the coming days.
Jolie has two adopted children: 16-month-old Zahara, from Ethiopia, and 4-year-old Maddox, from Cambodia. Both had their surnames legally changed to Jolie-Pitt after Pitt announced his intention to adopt the children as well.
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