Brad Pitt accused Angelina Jolie of orchestrating a ‘hostile takeover’ of the family vineyard in the latest twist on the couple’s bitter legal dispute.
Château Miraval is a vineyard in Provence, South of France, that was jointly owned by the former couple and has since become center stage in their high-profile showdown.
In the latest development, Pitt accused his ex-wife of selling her share to a Russian oligarch despite their verbal agreement not to sell their stake without the other’s consent.
Now Pitt said Jolie and her former investment company, Nouvel, staged a ‘hostile takeover of the business’ according to legal documents obtained by The Blast.
‘Jolie and Nouvel were obligated not to sell interest in a private family home and wine business without (Brad’s) consent’ the filing reads.
Brad Pitt has been accused of acting like a ‘petulant child’ who ‘looted’ the French vineyard he co-owed with Angelia Jolie
Pitt alleged Jolie’s sale to a ‘Russian oligarch’ would potentially tarnish the reputation of its highly regarded rosé
‘They nevertheless did so, secretly, through a purported sale to Tenute del Mondo, an entity controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shetler.’
‘Defendants have since attempted a hostile takeover of the business,’ it continues.
Jolie hit back and in her own filing, seen by The Blast, stating Brad’s actions are frivolous, malicious and part of a problematic pattern.
She added they are fighting to have a judge confirm, ‘Pitt’s allegations that he and Ms. Jolie had a secret, unwritten, unspoken contract for consent right on the sale of their interests in the property is directly contrary to the written record.’
The latest chapter in this long-running dispute comes shortly after Pitt was accused of acting like a ‘petulant child’ who ‘looted’ the vineyard the couple bought together in 2008.
Pitt was also accused of spending millions of dollars on vanity projects at the vineyard, including building a recording studio and renovating the swimming pool, according to a lawsuit filed by Jolie’s former investment company, Nouvel.
According to the lawsuit seen by the Financial Times, Pitt acted like a ‘petulant child’ and engaged in a ‘blatant money grab.’
Jolie’s lawyers slammed the actor for styling himself as a winemaker, instead saying he ‘deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes’.
Pitt and Jolie met in 2005 on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, playing a bored married couple who discover they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill one another
An aerial view taken on May 31, 2008 in Le Val, southeastern France, shows the Chateau Miraval, the winery and home
Jolie sold her share in Nouvel to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, who has been designated as an ‘oligarch’ by the US Treasury Department.
Nouvel, Jolie’s former company, said in a legal document that Pitt ‘engaged in increasingly outrageous actions to retain control’ of the winery, and that he is allegedly ‘stripping [the rosé producer] of its assets’.
Since the couple divorced in 2016, Pitt has allegedly ‘masterminded a so-far-successful plan to seize de facto control of Château Miraval’, Nouvel’s lawyers claimed in the California court filing.
In the new filings, Jolie’s former company lawyers took aim at Pitt’s styling of himself as a wine maker – brandishing his affectations as ‘ludicrous.’
‘During the years that he allegedly ‘built’ the business, he filmed and appeared in dozens of movies, not to mention making countless promotional appearances, jetting-setting [sic] around the world for movie premieres, and attending Hollywood parties,’ the filing obtained by Page Six read.
‘While he no doubt visited the vineyards to admire the work of the French laborers who actually made the business successful, Pitt is no vigneron.’
The couple split in 2016 after an incident on a private jet where Pitt was accused of being violent, choking one of their children, hitting another and shoving Jolie.
The FBI did not charge Pitt over the incident.
