Angelina Jolie's Emotional Email to Brad Pitt Is Being Used as Evidence in $250 Million Lawsuit

Jolie wrote the 2021 letter explaining why she no longer wanted to manage their Miravel winery.

By Ashley Turner

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are engaged in a bitter struggle over their Miraval winery in France, which they intended to be their personal refuge before their relationship crumbled. According to a recently uncovered court filing, Jolie wrote Pitt a personal email in January 2021, explaining why she wanted out of the venture, which RadarOnline obtained. Her message began, "Dear Brad, I am putting this in writing so not to get emotional." She said she had reached the "painful decision, with a heavy heart," that the project was "past the point of anything that I could be part of, morally and for the good of our family."

As she explained to her ex-husband, "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 meetings. Above all, it is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother's memory. A place that held the promise of what could be and where I thought I would grow old. Even now [it is] impossible to write this without crying. I will treasure my memories of what it was a decade ago." Jolie stressed, "I had hoped somehow it could become something that held us together [as] we found light and peace," adding, "I see now how you have really wanted me out and will most likely be pleased to receive this email."

As some of the reasons she reneged on the business deal, she points to "inconsiderate behaviour" and "decisions made that I was not consulted on." She went on, "Most of all, I was shaken by the recent imagery that was released to sell the alcohol. I find it irresponsible and not something that I would want the children to see. It reminded me of painful times." In the end, Jolie said, "I do not feel I can be involved, publicly or privately, in a business based on alcohol, when alcoholic behavior harmed our family so deeply." She suggested they sell the operation or buy her half out completely. "I cannot begin to express how upsetting it is for me to have to reach this point," she tells him. "Your dream for your relationship to the business and the alcohol is your own and you've made it painfully clear."

The actress went on to say, "I wish you all the best with the business, and sincerely hope that the children feel differently about Miraval when they are older, and visit you there. But Miraval for me died September 2016, and everything I have seen in the years since has sadly confirmed that." The letter was signed, "Regretfully, Angie." Jolie eventually sold her stake to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler's Tenute del Mondo in October 2021, according to ExtraTV. A report in Vanity Fair stated that Brad hadn't been informed of the decision until he heard about it in the media.

In 2008, according to CNN, the former couple purchased the winery, and the property was involved in a legal dispute. A lawsuit was filed in February 2022 by Pitt, who claimed Jolie's sale was unlawful, noting that when they purchased the Château together, they decided not to sell until they had agreed on its relocation. Jolie responded by filing a countersuit and claimed they never agreed to this. She added that she sold her part of the winery to gain "financial independence" from Babylon actor. According to CNN, the move was taken because it would help her "have some form of peace and closure to this deeply painful and traumatic chapter of her and their children's lives." DailyMail.com reported last month that the ex-couple had agreed to mediate the case.

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