EXCLUSIVE: Inside Angelina Jolie's Tumultuous Relationship With Jon Voight: Why Hollywood Star Has 'Minimal to Zero' Contact With Her Conservative Dad
Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight have had a rollercoaster relationship for decades.
June 3 2026, Published 2:15 p.m. ET
Angelina Jolie's relationship with her dad, Jon Voight, has been rocky for decades, leaving them having "minimal to zero contact" with each other in recent years, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The tension between them began at an early age. According to a source, Voight spent more time "out partying" than being a present father during Jolie's "formative years."
Jon Voight's Infidelity Rocked Angelina Jolie's Childhood
Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie mother, Marcheline Bertrand, divorced in 1980.
"He wasn’t looking out for her or her brother [James Haven]," added the source.
In 1976, Jolie's mom, Marcheline Bertrand, left Voight over his infidelity – a betrayal that permanently altered the course of her life.
"Her dreams of being an actor faded as she found herself, at the age of 26, raising two children with a famous ex who would cast a long shadow on her life," Jolie wrote in a 2020 op-ed for the New York Times. "After she died, I found a video of her acting in a short film. She was good. It was all possible for her."
Their divorce was finalized in 1980.
Angelina Jolie Dropped Her Father's Last Name
Angelina Jolie dropped Voight From her name.
But Jolie's relationship with her father remained a rollercoaster. In 2002, what was left of their father-daughter bond took another hit when he claimed Jolie "had serious mental problems" in an interview.
Jolie eventually chose to legally have his last name dropped from hers.
Two years later, she confirmed they "don't speak" in a sit-down with Premiere.
"I don't hold any anger toward him. I don't believe that somebody's family becomes their blood. Because my son's adopted, and families are earned," she explained. "When I had the final argument/disappointment with my father – we've had many off and on – I had thought we were breaking ground, and I realized we simply weren't."
Attempts to Reconcile
Jon Voight and Angelina Jolie have made sporadic attempts to reconcile over the years.
Over the years, Voight has commented on his daughter's life while seemingly still being kept at a distance.
In 2008, he called the birth of her twins, Knox and Vivienne, as "exciting," but admitted he hadn't spoke with her or even been asked to meet the babies yet.
Over the next few years, Jolie and Voight made some efforts to reconnect on and off.
In 2012, she confirmed to Marie Claire that he'd met her kids and they were all "in each other's lives," but made efforts not to "discuss" the past.
Conflicting Political Opinions
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Jon Voight said Angelina Jolie was exposed to political 'propaganda.'
But their tentative truce took another hit over political differences. The Maria actress had strong opinions on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, admitting in 2023 that she was "sick and angry" over the October 7 attacks.
"What happened in Israel is an act of terror," she said via Instagram. "But that cannot justify the innocent lives lost in bombing a civilian population in Gaza that has nowhere to go."
Voight claimed his daughter had been "exposed to propaganda" and was "influenced by antisemitic people" in an interview with Variety.
According to a source, Jolie finds her father's conservative ways "hard to stomach."
"They have serious personal and political differences," noted the source, "but friends feel they can be overcome, or at least set aside."
