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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got into their fair share of arguments the way most couples would. But there was one discussion Jolie considered off limits between them.

How Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt handled their differences

Brad Pitt posing next to Angelina Jolie at the AFI awards.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt | Steve Granitz/WireImage

Jolie has been open about how she and Pitt have handled their disagreements. In their younger years, she joked that she’d become slightly physical with her partner if their arguments became too intense.

“The sparks fly at home if the nice Brad fails to see that he’s wrong and reacts in a defiant way. Then I can get so angry that I tear his shirt,” she once said according to The Himalayan Times.

But the former couple also had fundamental differences regarding certain politics. So one topic everyone tried to avoid when the two were together was the death penalty.

“I won’t say whose side anyone is on, but it’s the one, the thing nobody brings up at dinner because nobody wants us to go off on each other,” ABC News once reported her saying. “But it’s fun. It’s a fun debate, you know? It’s a good. You want to be able to … respect each other’s views and to not be exactly … we’re not identical. We have strong views.”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie allegedly fought over their parenting styles

If certain sources are to be believed, Jolie and Pitt had far more personal and deeper arguments regarding each other’s parenting. Jolie has commented on how the pair could be quite different when handling their children. At one point, Pitt became the sterner parent of the two.

“Brad’s had to play bad cop more often,” Jolie once said according to Us Weekly.

But a source suggested that Pitt might’ve taken his role as bad cop a bit too far.

“[He]became a big yeller,” the insider alleged. “And she would not tolerate him yelling at the kids. There were a few times Angie said she was terrified.”

Meanwhile, another source claimed that Pitt’s behavior was not unlike the typical dynamic many fathers had with their children.

“When he raises his voice and yells at the kids, it’s almost comical,” the source said. “He’s not one of those guys with a temper. He’s not a drill sergeant.”

“Regular fatherly things,” they added. “He might say, ‘How come nobody did this?’ or ‘Why didn’t this get done?’”

The sources indicated that Pitt’s alleged parenting was to maintain their children’s humility and keep any potential egos in check.

“Brad wants them to have a normal upbringing and worries that they’ll come out spoiled, elitist and not grounded,” the source alleged. “But Angie feels they should be ‘children of the world.’ They argue about it all the time: heated, screaming fights.”

Angelina Jolie didn’t want her kids to be perfect

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What might add merit to the source’s claims was Jolie’s own statements towards her children. In the past, Jolie seemed to prioritize and encourage her kids’ freedoms over too much discipline.

“[My kids] all have a good rebellious streak that is wonderful and curious,” Jolie said, according to People. “I don’t want them to be perfectly behaved little people that just say what’s absolutely appropriate because I say so … they have to find themselves.”

This kind of growth reminded the actor of her own upbringing.

“I was a bit of a young punk,” she added. “I loved the idea of fighting for something you believe in however hard, and being brave in your life in your choices, and doing something your own way. And I don’t feel I’ve changed much at all, in fact.”

It was speculated that these differences only helped contribute to their divorce.