The legal battle between former Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is raging on, as the two are in a heated dispute over the sale of her stake in their Chateau Miraval winery.
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In a complaint filed by Pitt’s attorneys last Thursday, the actor denies Jolie’s allegation that negotiations over the sale of Miraval fell apart after he insisted she sign a nondisclosure agreement that would have prohibited her from speaking about Pitt’s alleged abuse of her and their children.
“The only thing that Jolie’s cross-complaint gets right is that she and Pitt purchased Château Miraval as a ‘loving home for their six children,’” Pitt’s amended complaint begins.
Jolie and Pitt’s co-ownership of the French winery, his complaint says, was contingent upon each of them having right of first refusal over any sale of their interests. But in the summer of 2021, after the exes decided to divorce and their heated custody battle got underway, Jolie “terminated buy-out discussions with Pitt and secretly purported to sell a 50% stake in the family home and family business to the Russia-affiliated spirits conglomerate Stoli Group,” Pitt’s complaint states.
“Jolie now makes excuses about her decision to break off discussions with Pitt and pursue this secret putative sale to Shefler and Stoli,” the complaint concludes. “Jolie’s excuses will not be borne out. Her decision to terminate negotiations with Pitt was intentional and pretextual.”
Pitt, his complaint alleges, also did far more work than Jolie in terms of renovating Chateau Miraval and building a successful wine business; as of last year, it was reportedly worth around $160 million. He is asking that the sale be undone and that he be awarded punitive and compensatory damages to be determined at a jury trial.
In her complaint, filed last October, Jolie claimed that Pitt was emotionally and physically abusive to their children, detailing an incident where he allegedly screamed at her and choked one of their children during a fight on an airplane.
Jolie’s complaint was filed as part of the ongoing civil suit related to the sale of her half of Miraval. In it, she says that she “was growing increasingly uncomfortable with continuing to participate in an alcohol-related business, given the impact of Pitt’s acknowledged problem of alcohol abuse on their family.”
“When Pitt filed this lawsuit seeking to reassert control over Jolie’s financial life and compel her to rejoin her ex-husband as a frozen-out business partner, Pitt forced Jolie to publicly defend herself on these issues for the first time,” her 2022 complaint said.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
