AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Angelina Jolie filed divorce papers against Brad Pitt on September 15. The pair had only been married for two years, but together since 2005.
When the news broke on Tuesday, the internet shook. The event conveyed the same urgency, panic, and geopolitical ramifications of an earlier event from 2016: Brexit.
Now #BrexPitt is gaining steam as a Twitter hashtag, reflecting the sheer urgency of the celebrity divorce, and gently mocking its breathless news coverage (we are guilty).
I couldn't care less about celebrity couples, but I appreciate a good play on words when I see one! #BrexPitt pic.twitter.com/j8kFsKOJdZ
- Adam Flanagan (@flanamation) September 20, 2016
#BrexPitt just made me spit out my tea. pic.twitter.com/E4lXfClW9i
- emily malone (@emilyrosemalone) September 20, 2016
You can always count on @CNN for important breaking news coverage. #BrexPitt pic.twitter.com/Fa3UGV3rCC
- The Tim (@The_Tim) September 20, 2016
This hashtag deserves a patent #BREXPITT
- AJ (@wayne_kyle26) September 20, 2016
It looks like BBC journalist Esther Webber first realized the potential of the phrase, shortly after news of the breakup broke.
Brexpitt
- Esther Webber (@estwebber) September 20, 2016
let the record show I was first with this terrible tweet
- Esther Webber (@estwebber) September 20, 2016
@JayShams I'd like to thank my dad, without whom I may never have made all these terrible jokes
- Esther Webber (@estwebber) September 20, 2016
It's a clever pun. As Webber notes, there are even some paralells between the breakup of Pitt, 52, and Jolie, 40, and the separation of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
the thing about Brexpitt is they are both now in the *single market*
[gets bundled into a car]
- Esther Webber (@estwebber) September 20, 2016
And just like Brexit, people are mourning the crumbling of the relationship.
I can't believe they are getting divorce #Brangelina I'm so sad pic.twitter.com/Ctq2c65ZW3
- Maria (@helou_maria) September 20, 2016
The divorce between Pitt and Jolie will likely have major ramifications on the couple's six children: Shiloh, Zahara, Maddox, Pax, and twins Vivienne and Knox.
Jolie's divorce filing included a request for full physical custody of their six children. She is being repped by A-list divorce lawyer Laura Wasser.