‘Sad and Painful’: Read Angelina Jolie’s Lawyer’s Furious Email Accusing Brad Pitt of Backing Out of $54 Million Deal over French Estate
Aug. 24 2023, Published 11:35 a.m. ET
Angelina Jolie had her lawyer fire off a nasty email after learning Brad Pitt and his associates allegedly planned to back out of an 8-figure deal to purchase her stake in the ex’s French estate, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Jolie and Pitt are involved in a nasty court battle over a $164 million property named Chateau Miraval. The couple purchased the home during their marriage with plans to turn it into a family business.
Pitt said he spent years and a substantial amount of time building the company into a profitable enterprise. In 2022, Pitt sued Jolie after she sold her stake in the winery to a company named Stoli, which is run by a man named Yuri Shefler.
Pitt claimed Shefler, whom he accused of being a Russian Oligarch, and his team had attempted a “hostile” takeover of the company. He sued demanding Jolie’s sale be voided. Shefler has denied being an Oligarch and said he opposes Putin.
Jolie’s former company Nouvel, which owned the stake in Miraval, countersued Pitt for $250 million accusing him of misusing company assets.
As we previously reported, Jolie initially approached her ex-husband in January 2021 telling him she wanted out of the business.
“I am putting this in writing so as not to get emotional,” she wrote in an email obtained by RadarOnline.com. “I have reached a painful decision, with a heavy heart, that I want to share with you. You know how much I wanted to buy Miraval, as a family business, as a place for us to visit together, and as a place to hold diplomatic and humanitarian meeting ... Even now impossible to write this without crying. I will treasure my memories of what it was a decade ago.”
She added, “But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family — and a business that is centered around alcohol.”
Jolie said, “I have tried to stay open to the business, to see it as something that could be positive for our family, and have therefore not walked away. I had hoped somehow it could become something that held us together and we found light and peace. I see now how you really wanted me out and will most likely be pleased to receive this email.”
He claimed Jolie then went back his back to sell to Stoli.
Now, RadarOnline.com has obtained a new email submitted by Jolie into evidence. The message was sent by Jolie’s lawyer to Pitt’s team on April 6, 2021 — months after Jolie first told Pitt she wanted out of the business.
In the message, Jolie’s lawyer said, “I hereby wish to remind that after many weeks of negotiation and discussions, we reached a final agreement on 25 February 2021 for the full sale of my client Angelina Jolie’s stake in Miraval to Brad Pitt and the Perrin family.”
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Per the deal, Jolie was to be paid 54.5 million with 46 million paid immediately and 8.5 million paid over the next 6 years.
Jolie agreed that a $7 million loan from her ex-husband would be repaid from the initial cash portion. In addition, Jolie’s lawyer noted that she agreed to a non-disparagement agreement relating to the wine business.
The deal was set to close in April but Jolie’s lawyer was tired of waiting around for them to execute the paperwork. The attorney noted, “As you know, as sad and painful as this loss to her personally, she is no longer able to bear the emotional connection to a place that marked the end of her marriage. Furthermore, she feels unable to be part of a business centered around wine, given the part alcohol played in harm to their family. She continues therefore to believe that the sale is in the best interests of all concerned.”
Jolie’s lawyer said she became aware that Pitt and his associates were attempting to back out of the deal. “Most disturbing of all was the reasoning given, and the reference made to recent reports that during sealed legal proceedings currently taking place in California, my client had submitted offers of proof relating to domestic violence.”
At the time, court documents leaked showing Jolie told the judge in her divorce she had proof of Pitt’s alleged domestic violence. Pitt has strongly denied her accusations over the years.
Chateau Miraval
“Setting aside the fact that the legal proceedings in question were not initiated by my client, it would be entirely inappropriate for this to have any bearing on the sale of my client’s stake in Miraval,” the lawyer wrote. “The position taken could even be seen as coming close to an attempt to influence the course of future events relating to those or other proceedings, by suggesting that any public knowledge of information regarding the family situation would be a reason for abrogating the agreement."
“As you will be aware, financial autonomy is an extremely sensitive issue in cases of this nature. This suggestion has therefore caused my client acute distress and concern,” Jolie’s lawyer added.
The lawyer said Jolie had not spoken publicly about the events that led to her marriage ending in four and a half years and “has no intention of speaking.”
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“It is extremely distressing to my client that the primary if not the sole concern that has been expressed is not the health and well-being of family members, but how the situation might affect a business,” the letter read.
The deal was never executed, and Jolie sold her stake to Soli — which Pitt now wants to be undone. The case remains ongoing.
Sources close to Pitt tell RadarOnline.com he's unbothered by his ex's actions in court and has been focused on filming his new Formula 1 flick.