Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s split has seemed to continually sour over the years, with Pitt now accusing his ex of wanting to “inflict harm” on him financially. According to ET, in new legal documents the Ocean’s Eleven star and his legal team address Chateau Miraval Winery, which the couple owned together. 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 has since sold her share of their winery to Yuri Shefler, a Russian oligarch. Pitt and his attorneys are accusing the actress of doing this to jeopardize Pitt’s involvement with the company.
In a new filing, Pitt’s lawyers allege that “Jolie sought to inflict harm on Pitt” and claim that she “knew and intended that Shefler and his affiliates would try to control the business Pitt had built and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval.” The documents add, “The vineyard became Pitt’s passion — and a profitable one, as Miraval, under Pitt’s stewardship, has grown into a multimillion-dollar global business and one of the world’s most highly regarded producers of rosé wine. Jolie, meanwhile, contributed nothing to Miraval’s success. Instead, she allowed Pitt to pour money and sweat equity into the business in reliance on the consent right she owed him and a right of first refusal her business entity owed his.”
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The former couple’s legal battle got messier back in September, even after she defended the disqualification of the judge in their custody fight. At the time, Us Weekly reported that Pitt and his lawyers had filed a lawsuit, in Luxembourg, over the “potentially lucrative sale of Château Miraval shares.” Us Weekly acquired court documents that indicated the Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood star originally retained 60 percent of Quimicum’s shares, while Jolie had 40 percent.
At some point, Pitt moved some of his Quimicum shares to his now-ex-wife, which made them equal partners in the company. Château Miraval is reportedly valued at over $160 million, according to the legal documents, and if the Those Who Wish Me Dead star sells her shares, she could be making a profit at Pitt’s expense. “It is worth mentioning that, for the last four years, Nouvel [Jolie’s company] did not act in the best interest of Quimicum by systematically delaying the approval of the annual accounts and the renewal of the manager,” the lawsuit alleges, accusing Pitt of “systematic obstruction.”
Essentially, Pitt’s issue seems 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. 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. Jolie and her representatives have reportedly not issued a statement on the new legal filings.
