bitchy | Angelina Jolie is ‘genuinely excited about turning 50’: ‘Her 40s were rough’

Angelina Jolie celebrated her 50th birthday this week – she shares the same June 4th birthday with another Gemini queen, Princess Lilibet. There was surprisingly little birthday energy for Angelina, and I suspect that was what she wanted. Many celebrities throw big bashes for their 50th, inviting all of their Hollywood friends to a party and organizing “fabulous at 50” articles and interviews. I’m just saying, that’s exactly what Jennifer Aniston did in 2019. So Angelina went a different route – just a couple of stories in People Mag about how she wants a quiet birthday, and that’s about it.

Angelina Jolie just turned 50, but don’t expect her to throw a major party to celebrate.

A source close to Jolie, who reached her milestone birthday on June 4, tells PEOPLE that while the Oscar winner “seems genuinely excited and happy about turning 50,” she “doesn’t want a big party.” Instead, the insider says the Maria actress will opt for “a more intimate celebration” with her six children: Maddox, 23; Pax, 21; Zahara, 20; Shiloh, 18; Knox, 16 and Vivienne, also 16.

“So much of her 40s were rough. She’s in a much better place now,” the source continues of Jolie, who reached a divorce settlement with ex Brad Pitt in December 2024 after an eight-year legal battle. “The kids are amazing and thriving. There is less family drama.”

Jolie stepped back into movies in 2024 with her Maria Callas biopic on Netflix, which marked her first acting role since she starred in 2021’s Those Who Wish Me Dead and Marvel’s Eternals. Last year, she also debuted her first movie as a director since 2017, Without Blood, which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Her sons Maddox and Pax worked on the movie’s set, and Salma Hayek Pinault starred.

The prominent humanitarian also won her first Tony Award in 2024 for producing the new musical The Outsiders. Her daughter Vivienne worked as a volunteer assistant on the production.

A separate insider tells PEOPLE that Jolie “is embracing the idea of turning 50 and feels more grounded than ever” on her birthday.

[From People]

I’ll never get over how many predictions there were that Angelina’s kids would be maladjusted basketcases. As it turns out, her kids are completely fine – they all have different interests and passions, Maddox went to college, Zahara is at Spelman, Shiloh’s starting her career as a choreographer/dancer, Vivienne worked on a Tony Award-winning production, and on and on. It definitely seems like all of those kids loathe Brad, and all of them are super-close to Angelina. “So much of her 40s were rough” – true. She filed for divorce from Brad when she was 41 years old, and let’s face it, the marriage and relationship was already in a bad place before that 2016 flight from hell.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.