Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s legal battle over a vineyard they previously owned together is heating up yet again. CNN reports that, in new legal documents, Jolie’s former investment company Nouvel is accusing Pitt and “co-conspirators” of “looting” the Château Miraval vineyard in an effort to retain control of the operation and facility. The company is seeking $350 million in damages.
“Pitt wasted the company’s assets, spending millions on vanity projects,” the documents state, “including more than $1 million on swimming pool renovations, building and rebuilding a staircase four times, and spending millions to restore a recording studio.” Lawyers for Nouvel allege that Pitt’s “misconduct” escalated after Jolie sold the company to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, which iscontrolled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler. “Incensed that Jolie sold Nouvel to Stoli rather than him, Pitt has acted like a petulant child, refusing to treat Nouvel as an equal partner in the business,” the legal documents state.
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Château Miraval is the French estate and vineyard – which is owned by a company called Quimicum – where Pitt and Jole were married, back in August 2014. Jolie selling to Shefler is where the root of Pitt’s ongoing issue lies, as he alleges she “acknowledged that there were only ‘two ways forward,’” which were: “Pitt and Jolie could sell Miraval jointly, or Pitt could buy her out. The former couple thus began exclusive buyout negotiations.”
Essentially, Pitt’s concerns seem to boil down to what he says was a “mutual understanding” between himself and Jolie when they split, that they would not sell their individual stakes in the winery without consent from the other. In 2021, Jolie proposed selling her half to a then-unnamed buyer, who turned out to be Shefler. Pitt agreed to consider the sale but stated that the pair’s “mutual understanding” gave him the right to refuse to agree to the sale.
However, Jolie went through with the sale, prompting Pitt to file a lawsuit. Pitt now claims that Jolie “terminated” negotiations when the former couple’s child custody fight began heating up, and he is now left dealing with serious ramifications. “Stoli has attempted a hostile takeover of the wine business,” the documents allege, “destabilizing Miraval’s operations, seeking access to Miraval’s confidential and proprietary information for the benefit of Shefler’s competing enterprise, and trying to tear apart the winemaking partnership between the Pitt and Perrin families that is at the heart of Miraval and key to its success.”
A source close to the situation previously told ET that Pitt is fighting in-part because of his business partnership with winemaker Marc Perrin. “Brad is left once more fighting for his family to protect their assets and his partnership with Marc Perrin,” the source stated. “Brad won’t back down from bullies and won’t abandon his [business] partner.” Ultimately, Pitt is seeking to have the matter settled in “a trial by jury.”
