The battle continues. Brad Pitt alleged that ex-wife Angelina Jolie “secretly” sold his stakes in their winery as payback for their custody battle.
The Bullet Train actor, 59, claimed that he and the Maleficent star, 47, previously agreed that neither could sell their share in Château Miraval without the other’s approval. In court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Pitt alleged that Jolie decided she wanted to sell her share in the French property when they were finalizing their divorce in 2019, and they began buyout negotiations so that Pitt could purchase her stake.
According to the Lost City star, those negotiations fell apart after he and the Unbroken director began fighting for custody of their children. The duo share six kids: Maddox, 21, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 14.
Brad Pitt; Angelina Jolie Shutterstock(2)
“In the summer of 2021, amid a heated child custody dispute with Pitt, Jolie terminated those discussions and secretly purported to sell a 50 percent stake in the family home and family business to Tenute del Mondo,” Pitt’s legal team alleged in the new docs, which were filed on Thursday, June 1. “Tenute del Mondo is part of the Russia-affiliated spirits conglomerate Stoli Group, which is owned and controlled by billionaire Yuri Shefler. Shefler, who has been designated as an ‘oligarch in the Russian Federation’ by the U.S. Treasury Department, had previously sought to buy Miraval, and Pitt had turned him down.”
The Oklahoma native went on to allege that Jolie specifically chose Shefler because his “personal network of ill-reputed professional associates” would cause “lasting harm to Miraval’s reputation.” According to the filing, Shefler “has had business dealings with individuals” in the “inner circle” of Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who allegedly ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The filing goes on to allege that “vindictively, Jolie never gave Pitt a chance to match” Shefler’s “higher offer” for Miraval, “which he has a contractual right to do” and “which he would have done” given the chance. “In the wake of the adverse custody ruling, she no longer wanted to sell to Pitt, notwithstanding her contractual obligations and years of assurances to him,” the Oscar winner’s legal team claimed in the docs.
Pitt and Jolie tied the knot in 2014 before calling it quits in September 2016 after a decade together. When they were declared legally single in 2019, the pair were still hammering out the details of their custody battle. In early 2021, Judge John Ouderkirk ruled in favor of the twosome sharing custody of the kids. The Girl, Interrupted actress later had Ouderkirk removed from the case after claiming that he had “ongoing business and professional relationships” with Pitt that were not disclosed.
After Jolie sold her Miraval stake in October 2021, Pitt filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife, claiming that the sale to Tenute del Mondo was an attempt to “undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval.” In the February 2022 suit, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor also alleged that the sale deprived him “of his right to enjoy his private home and to oversee the business he developed from scratch.”
In a September 2022 countersuit, Jolie alleged that her ex-husband attempted to “seize control” of the estate “in retaliation” for their ongoing “divorce and custody proceedings.” The Changeling actress also claimed that she did give her ex the chance to buy out her stake in Miraval, but Pitt allegedly demanded that she sign 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.” When she refused to agree to that provision, the Fight Club star allegedly walked away from the deal.
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A source close to Pitt, meanwhile, told Us that Jolie’s allegations were “completely untrue.”
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