A year later: everything that's happened since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed for divorce

We've had an entire year to dry our tears, pull ourselves together and mentally process the shocking news of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce. The initial moment of heartbreak occurred on Sept. 20, 2016, when Angie's lawyer announced the split following her choice to file a day prior, citing irreconcilable differences for the dissolution of their 2-year marriage and 12-year relationship. "This decision was made for the health of the family," her lawyer explained. "She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given privacy at this time." In his own statement, Brad expressed his sadness over the breakup and similarly emphasized the "well-being" of their 6 kids: Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. But, with legal docs revealing Angie's request for sole physical custody, speculation began over the real reasons behind their divorce. Was it Brad's bad parenting, or a torrid affair? Click on to find out everything that went down in the rollercoaster divorce of Hollywood's once-favorite A-list couple.

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October 2016: All eyes on Brad Pitt

It was clear that this high-profile divorce was heading into turbulent territory as Angelina Jolie opted to beef up her team of lawyers on Oct. 2. The legal additions came on the heels of the Department of Children and Family Services launching an investigation into a reported abusive incident on the family's private plane on Sept. 14 — about a week before the divorce filing. The allegations were pinned on Brad Pitt for reportedly getting drunk and having a verbally-and-physically abusive argument with his eldest son, Maddox. While the matter was being looked into, the ex-couple agreed to have a temporary custody deal in place, giving Angie sole physical custody. The terms also included individual and family counseling, along with random drug and alcohol testing for Brad. Despite reports that Maddox opted out of other scheduled visitations with Brad and his siblings, he reportedly finally met with his dad — and a therapist — for the first time since the split, on Oct. 21.

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November 2016: Cheating rumors debunked

At least cheating rumors could be pushed aside in the midst of Brad Pitt's DCFS drama … By the time he and Marion Cotillard walked the red carpet together for the premiere of their film "Allied" in London on Nov. 21, any speculation of an affair between them had been totally debunked. Within a week of Angelina Jolie's divorce filing, Marion had already took it upon herself to squash the notion with an open and honest Instagram post. "I am not used to commenting on things like this nor taking them seriously," she wrote. "But as this situation is spiraling and affecting people I love, I have to speak up." Marion made it quite clear that she had no part in her co-star's split by confessing her devotion and love to her husband, French actor Guillame Canet. She closed, "Finally, I do very much wish that Angelina and Brad, both whom I deeply respect, will find peace in this very tumultuous moment."

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December 2016: Pleading for privacy

Brad Pitt was thankfully cleared by DCFS at the start of the month with no signs of abuse, but his divorce battle raged on in court. On Dec. 6, just days after Angelina Jolie opted to file the custody agreement with the courts, he requested an emergency hearing to have all documents regarding his children sealed for privacy. A TMZ source claimed that Brad merely wanted, "to thwart [Angie] from further damaging their children by airing their dirty laundry in public." Unfortunately, Brad's request was denied. The filing did reveal new insight into the temporary agreement, citing therapist Ian Russ in control of determining Brad's allotted visitations with his kids. But, at least some of the dad's pleas were answered in December; he was reportedly allowed to see his brood for a gift exchange at some point over Christmas.

January 2017: The divorce diet

Divorce actually started to look pretty good on Brad Pitt in the New Year… The "Fight Club" actor looked trim and toned when he made a surprise appearance at the 2017 Golden Globes on Jan. 8. "He lost a bunch of weight," an Us Weekly insider revealed. "He's focusing on himself again, watching what he eats and has a chef making him healthy meals." Brad's slim down falls perfectly in line with some very positive developments in his divorce proceedings, as he and Angelina Jolie finally agreed on keeping things to themselves. On Jan. 9, their legal teams released a joint statement confirming that they, "signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues." Finally, some progress!

February 2017: Angelina Jolie's first appearance

Since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt decided to keep the rest of their legal divorce drama out of the public eye, all had been quiet on the rumor front. Angie embraced the calmer waters as her chance to come back into the public eye peacefully. On Feb. 18, she made her first appearance since the divorce news broke! The single mom was photographed in Cambodia with a handful of her children, including Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh, as they arrived for a meeting with the country's King Norodom Sihamoni. Later that day, she brought more of her brood to a screening of her directorial project for Netflix, "First They Killed My Father."

March 2017: Professor Jolie emerges

With her divorce seemingly at bay for the moment, Angelina Jolie was able to step into her new role as a visiting professor at the London School of Economics with ease. On March 14, she gave her first lecture at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The very next day, she jetted off to Geneva, Switzerland, to speak at the annual lecture of the Sergio Vieira De Mello Foundation at the United Nations Office. It was nice to see Angie back in the swing of her usual world-changing philanthropist, female empowerment ways for a change. Reports that Brad Pitt had been texting his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston didn't seem to be phasing her one bit.

April 2017: Romance rumors sparked

While Angelina was seemingly slipping back into her independent-woman ways, Brad was swept up in a new romance rumor with another leading lady. Reports surfaced that he and Sienna Miller were doing some "serious flirting" at a group dinner following the premiere of "The Lost City of Z" — in which they both starred — on April 5. But the blond beauty shot down the allegations super fast. "I'm not going to even dignify it with a response," she told Page Six on April 11. "It's predictable and silly,"

May 2017: Stone cold sober

Around the time of his divorce, rumors swirled of Brad having a possible problem with alcohol and even drugs. In May, he opened up to GQ about how he's bettered himself since the split and admitted that he's even been sober for 6 months. "I was boozing too much," he revealed. "It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again." On the heels of the interview, Page Six reported that Brad had actually gone to a "VIP facility" for treatment to help him quit, but either way, he seems better for it. On May 19, E! News reported that Angelina was even planning to move into a home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, close to where Brad lives, hinting that they were possibly on better terms with plans for him to see the kids more often.

May 2017: Semi-reunited for Father's Day

In June, Brad Pitt was still controlled under supervised visits with his children, dependent on their appointed therapist's judgment, in accordance with he and Angelina Jolie's custody agreement. But, E! News reported that he did get to spend time with some of his kiddos for Father's Day. On June 17, "several" of his kids went to hang out at his home in Los Angeles, before all 6 of them jetted off Ethiopia on a trip with their mom. Baby steps, right?

July 2017: Talk about what went wrong

In between mommy duty activities, like taking twins Knox and Vivienne to Disneyland on their 9th birthday on July 12, Angelina Jolie managed to carve out the time to do a cover-story interview with Vanity Fair. In the July issue, she finally fielded questions about her split from Brad Pitt, admitting that "things got bad" while she was in post-production for her film, "First They Killed My Father." She denied her globetrotting lifestyle as a reason for the tension, and seemed hopeful for their co-parenting future. "We care for each other and care about our family," Angie said. "And we are both working towards the same goal."

August 2017: Un-divorce-related drama

Phew! Finally, a break from conflicting reports regarding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's ongoing divorce drama, and instead, a totally different legal battle for the duo. In August, a lawsuit filed against the ex-lovebirds by French interior designer, Odile Soudant, was made public. She sued the ex-lovebirds for not paying up — and, not giving her credit — on a massive lighting project she completed in their sprawling Chateau Miraval mansion. The court ended up deciding in favor of Odile, ordering Brad and Angie's company to pay up big time: $662,000 in unpaid fees, which included about $70,000 for damaging her reputation.

September 2017: Rumors of a reconciliation

Just when we thought we were adjusting to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce, they have to go and throw us for a loop. On Sept. 2, the Mail on Sunday published a report claiming that the exes had met up for the first time, face-to-face, in 10 months, and decided to start fresh — a conscious re-coupling, if you will. We have yet to hear any word confirming or denying the reports, but insider Ian Halperin thinks it's possible that Angie and Brad could still proceed with their divorce and just keep their new relationship not legally bound. "Angie believes everything started to go wrong after they tied the knot," the biographer revealed. All of the reconciliation buzz came just a few days after the mom-of-six was quoted saying: "I don't enjoy being single. It's not something I wanted. There's nothing nice about it. It's just hard." She's been quite busy toting her big brood around the world amidst the premiere of her Netflix directorial, "First They Killed My Father — pictured left at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 11 — so, we'll just have to wait and see what's really in store for the pair.