‘Meritless’: Brad Pitt Trashes Ex Angelina Jolie’s Efforts to Escape $250 Million Court War Over French Winery
Oct. 31 2023, Published 10:39 a.m. ET
Brad Pitt fired back his ex-wife Angelina Jolie’s attempt to dismiss his lawsuit accusing her of breaking a promise they made during their marriage.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Pitt has asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to deny Jolie’s recent motion.
As we previously reported, last year, Pitt sued Jolie after she sold her stake in a French winery, Chateau Miraval, which they purchased while married.
The actor said they purchased the estate with the plan to turn it into a wine business that they could pass down to their children.
Jolie and their children.
He claimed to have spent a ton of time and money on turning Chateau into a successful business. The couple continued to own the property following their 2016 divorce.
Pitt said Jolie approached him in 2021 telling him she wanted out of the business. He claimed to start to try and find a buyer. Eventually, Pitt and his team hashed out a deal to pay Jolie $54 million for her 50% ownership.
The estate.
However, the deal fell apart after allegations of domestic violence by Jolie against Pitt surfaced in their divorce.
In Jolie's countersuit, it stated that the deal fell apart after Jolie submitted alleged proof of domestic violence in court, and Pitt then allegedly asked for Jolie to sign a new all-encompassing NDA to now include his behavior while they were married, not just the winery business. She refused.
The negotiations then fell apart, and Jolie ended up selling her stake, which was held in a company named Nouvel, to a Russian oligarch named Yuri Shelfer.
Pitt claimed Jolie broke a promise not to sell her stake without his approval — and to make matters worse she chose an oligarch with ties to Putin.
His lawsuit demanded the entire sale be undone. Jolie’s former company Nouvel filed a $250 million countersuit against Pitt. The suit accused the actor of misusing company assets for vanity projects.
Jolie has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. She argued there was no contract in place that prohibited her from selling her stake to a third party.
"He tried to silence her and when she wouldn't be bullied anymore, he sued her," a source familiar with the case told RadarOnline.com.
As we first reported, she recently submitted the proposed deal she hashed out with Pitt and an email she sent him informing him she wanted out of the business.
Now, in a new motion, Pitt unleashed on Jolie’s effort to have his case tossed.
His lawyer wrote, that in 2021, following the couple’s divorce, Jolie covertly sold her stake in Château Miraval to a massive, oft-boycotted spirits conglomerate owned by a Russian oligarch. Simply, Jolie put Pitt, without his consent, into partnership with a stranger—inviting that stranger to share not only Pitt’s family business but also his family home.”
Pitt argued Jolie’s claim she had no obligation to seek his approval before selling her stake in their company is wrong.
“Jolie is wrong—the Complaint cites many statements Jolie made over the years. But in any event, implied-in-fact contracts based on conduct are well-established under California law, and the detailed factual allegations in the Complaint— which Jolie resists or ignores—state such a claim,” his lawyer argued.
Pitt said, “Jolie’s summary efforts to dismiss these independent claims are meritless.”
In the motion, Pitt revealed when they purchased the property, he invested over 15 million while Jolie put in over $10 million. The actor said it was around this time they agreed that no shares would be transferred to non-shareholders unless they both agreed.
Pitt’s filing also revealed Jolie came to him in 2013 because she could “no longer afford to fund her share of the investment in Château Miraval.”
“Because this threatened to upend the couple’s vision for their family home and business, Pitt continued funding the investment completely on his own … Ultimately, Pitt would invest nearly $50 million more in Château Miraval than Jolie—i.e., 70% of the couple’s total investment. The result: an international wine business now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
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Pitt said before they got married he transferred 10% stake to Jolie so they would both have 50%. He said based on Jolie knowing how much he invested and the 10% he provided her — he believed, “that they would hold the family property and business together for their children to inherit and not sell separately without the other’s consent.”
After Jolie filed for divorce, Pitt claimed Jolie agreed to 68-32 split of the business based on his investments.
Jolie reportedly told Pitt, “I will only take what I put in.”
He said she said, “It’s an investment and business [our children] will inherit.”
Pitt said Jolie was the one who abruptly terminated the sale discussions in 2021.
He said, “Jolie had a secret buyer waiting in the wings: Yuri Shefler, a Russian billionaire whom the U.S. has designated as an “oligarch.”
Pitt has demanded his lawsuit NOT be dismissed despite Jolie’s motion.
