Brad Pitt Suffers Small Setback In Nasty Court Battle With Angelina Jolie Over $165 Million French Estate
Feb. 3 2023, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Brad Pitt was shut down in his plea for an emergency hearing as part of his legal battle with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie and a Russian oligarch, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has denied Pitt’s motion for an emergency hearing.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, last year, Pitt sued Jolie and her company Nouvel after she sold her stake in a $164 million French estate that the ex-couple purchased during their marriage.
The actor said his ex-wife had promised not to sell her stake to a third party without his approval. Pitt said he spent years building Chateau Miraval S.A. into a business that he wanted to leave to their children.
After Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, the two continued to hold their separate stake in the company. However, in 2021, the actress told Pitt she could no longer hold ownership due to her “personal objections.”
Pitt said they agreed to find a buyer together, but Jolie backed out of talks when a decision she found unfavorable came down in their custody battle.
The actor said Jolie sold her stake in the company to a company called Tenute del Mondo which is owned by Stoli Group. Tenute del Mondo is “indirectly owned and controlled” by a Russian oligarch named Yuri Shefler.
After the sale, Pitt said Shefler and associates have attempted a “hostile” takeover of the company. He sued his ex-wife, along with Shefler and Stoli, to undo the sale.
In response, Jolie’s company filed a $250 million countersuit against Pitt which accused him of wasting the company’s money on vanity projects.
Further, court documents revealed that Jolie doesn’t believe she had any obligation to have Pitt approve any sale of her stake in Chateau Miraval S.A.
Jolie called his ex-husband’s lawsuit “frivolous” and “malicious” and said it was “part of a problematic pattern.” Shefler and Stoli have yet to respond to the lawsuit and are expected to argue that Pitt’s lawsuit was filed in the wrong venue and that California is not the proper jurisdiction.
Pitt recently pleaded for an emergency hearing because he wanted Shefler and Stoli to turn over documents. In addition, he wanted to depose Shefler and the other defendants to question them about the jurisdiction of the case.
His lawyer argued, “The Stoli Parties, along with the other defendants to this action, are refusing to produce documents that are foundational to this case and the Court’s jurisdiction over the Stoli Parties: the bulk of the negotiating history for the transaction under challenge, and documents concerning the Stoli Parties’ direction and control of Nouvel, the California entity the Stoli Parties purported to buy from Jolie.”
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In response, lawyers for the Russian oligarch argued that Pitt should not be granted an emergency hearing. They said they were willing to postpone the upcoming hearing to allow additional time for document production.
The judge denied the request brought by Pitt. “There is no affirmative factual showing of irreparable harm. The case is not at issue. No trial date has been set. Plaintiffs will not be prejudiced in any way by waiting for their scheduled hearing dates,” the court read.
The case is ongoing.
