Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie thank Namibia
The couple's first public appearance after the birth of their daughter Shiloh Nouvel
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie today made their first public appearance since the birth of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, the first daughter born to the actor couple, who already have two other adopted children. Little Shiloh Nouvel was born by caesarean section in a private clinic in Namibia on May 27 and in this African country, where Pitt and Jolie went in search of privacy, the entire family continues.
Today, Pitt, 42, and Jolie, 30, held a press conference with the country's first lady, Penexupifo Pohamba, at an exclusive hotel in the coastal city of Swakopmund to thank Namibia for the privacy and the peace they have enjoyed during the birth of their daughter. The press conference was also attended by the Minister of Child Protection, Marlene Mungunda. The couple, who have only allowed the assistance of certain Namibian journalists, has assured that since their arrival in the country, several weeks before the birth of the girl, "some very quiet and peaceful days have passed," according to CNN.
"We are forever grateful for the special time we have spent here and for the help we received in the birth of our daughter, Shiloh," said Pitt. The girl was born by caesarean section and weighed three kilograms. The couple, who plan to leave the country in the next few days, have denied that they are going to marry. "We are going to focus on our children, we are very committed to our children and as parents," Jolie said. The two, who have been relaxed and smiling, are adoptive parents of Maddox, a four-year-old boy born in Cambodia, and Zahara, a 15-month-old girl from Ethiopia. Both were adopted by the actress before starting her relationship with the actor, who gave them her last name several months after starting their relationship. "We had both traveled to Africa and we liked this part of the world," added the actress to explain why she was chosen.
Controversy over the girl's photos
Pitt, 42, has assured on his side that the couple is "proud" that his daughter was born in Namibia, a country they leave "with memories and eager to visit again." As can be seen in the images, Jolie, who was wearing a black chiffon dress, with suspenders and a bow, looks excellent after giving birth. Pitt, in an army green jacket suit and matching lighter T-shirt, has much shorter hair than in her last public appearances. Meanwhile, the British magazine Hello! today announced that she will take legal action against several Internet portals that have spread, without her permission, a leaked photo of the baby. The snapshot "has been obtained in a totally illegal way," as Juliette Herd, director of reports for the publication, owned by Spanish Eduardo Sánchez, has assured.
"Hello! Is going to take legal action around the world to stop these portals and anyone who wants to publish" the photo, Herd stressed, adding that the origin of the leak is a "total mystery". The snapshot - which shows Jolie lying next to the baby, who is sleeping peacefully under the watchful eye of her father - contains the Hello! and was released today on the US websites Oh No They Didn't and Defamer. The photo is part of a coveted series taken by the Getty agency and sold as a worldwide exclusive to Hello! for Europe and to the American magazine People, responsible for publishing the images in the United States. Hello! plans to release the photos this Thursday, while People will do the same on Friday.
Jolie and Pitt have already announced that the amount of the photos, which experts in the pink press estimate could amount to up to seven million dollars (almost 5.5 million euros), will go to charity. Jolie, who won an Oscar in 1999 for her starring role in Innocence Interrupted, has displayed notorious humanitarian activism since she was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Although we enjoy the joy of the birth of our baby girl, we recognize that each year in the developing world two million babies are born who die of hunger on the first day of their life," said the famous couple in the statement in which released the news.
