An escalating legal battle between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over Château Miraval, a French winery they used to own together, has resulted in a new court filing that accuses Pitt of acting like a “petulant child” after Jolie sold her share of the venture.
Jolie’s former investment company, Nouvel — through which she previously owned a large stake in Château Miraval before selling the entire company to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler — is suing Pitt for at least US$350 million, the Financial Times reported.
Nouvel accuses Pitt of “stripping” and “looting” Château Miraval, a lush estate in Provence that produces rosé, of its assets by wasting company money on frivolous renovations.
“Pitt wasted the company’s assets, spending millions on vanity projects, including more than US$1 million on swimming pool renovations, building and rebuilding a staircase four times, and spending millions to restore a recording studio,” the document states.
The court filing further adds that Pitt spent “nearly a million euros a year constantly rebuilding stone walls using stone masons from Croatia.”
Nouvel’s lawyer’s claim that Pitt’s “misconduct” escalated in 2021 after Jolie decided to sell the investment company, and her share of the winery, to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, which is owned by Shefler.
“Incensed that Jolie sold Nouvel to Stoli rather than him, Pitt has acted like a petulant child, refusing to treat Nouvel as an equal partner in the business,” the filing states.
Pitt originally sued Jolie for selling her share of the winery in February 2022, kicking off their legal battle. He claimed that the pair agreed they would sell their stakes in Château Miraval separately “only with the other’s consent” — a claim that Jolie has denied.
Jolie filed a countersuit, claiming she sold her portion of the winery to gain greater “financial independence” from Pitt following their 2016 divorce, and to “have some form of peace and closure to this deeply painful and traumatic chapter of her and their children’s lives.”
She claims that negotiations to sell her part of the winery to Pitt broke down after he insisted the sale include the signing of “a nondisclosure agreement that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children.”
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The countersuit details an incident where Pitt allegedly poured beer on Jolie and poured beer and red wine on their children. Jolie writes in the countersuit that she felt uncomfortable participating in an alcohol-related business with Pitt.
That countersuit also saw allegations come to light that Pitt was physically and verbally abusive during a 2016 flight on a private jet with Jolie and their children.
Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her,” the filing reads.
The FBI investigated the alleged plane incident in 2016, but did not bring forward any charges against Pitt.
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