Brad Pitt confused by Angelina Jolie's request to drop judge in divorce case because she 'hand-selected' him to officiate their wedding

Brad Pitt has responded to Angelina's Jolie's request to replace the private California judge presiding over their divorce case.

The actress suggested earlier this week that Judge John W. Ouderkirk should be removed from the case because of his "ongoing, repeat-customer relationship" with Pitt's lawyers. 

However, the actor's legal team are perplexed as to why Jolie has an issue with Judge Ouderkirk, given she "hand-selected" him to marry the couple back in 2014. 

In papers filed on August 13 and obtained by Page Six, the actor's legal team also argued that Jolie "stipulated three times" her desire to extend Judge Ouderkirk's appointment in the ongoing case.

"Judge Ouderkirk has had a well-documented history with the parties to this proceeding their counsel, including, without limitation, being hand-selected by Jolie to preside over the couple's nuptials in 2014 and serving as a neutral in several matters involving attorneys on both sides of this case," read the documents from Pitt's camp. 

"Judge Ouderkirk has also accepted additional new engagements involving opposing counsel during the pendency of this action — a fact fully disclosed to Jolie, and still she has never objected to his continued involvement in this proceeding until now."

According to Pitt's legal team, the actress' request is nothing but a "thinly veiled attempt" to delay custody proceedings relating to five of their six children: Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 14-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. The estranged couple also share an adult son, 19-year-old Maddox.

"[It is] an abrupt cry of judicial bias [that] reeks of bad faith and desperation," the papers concluded.

But Jolie's lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, said earlier this week that her client just wants a balanced trial, with no unfair advantages given to either party.

"As is set forth in the filing, all my client is asking for is a fair trial based on facts, with no special favours extended to either side," Bley DeJean added in a statement. "The only way litigants can trust the process is for everyone involved to ensure that there is transparency and impartiality."