Brad Pitt accused Angelina Jolie in court papers of selling her share in their winery Chateau Miraval to “inflict harm” on him
Brad Pitt’s latest court filing in his ongoing legal battle with Angelina Jolie over the sale of Château Miraval is sending out a “false narrative,” a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE.
In February, the 58-year-old actor sued Jolie, 47, alleging she unlawfully sold her interests in a winery they purchased together in 2008. Back then, the now-exes, who share six kids, bought a controlling stake in the South of France vineyard and home Château Miraval, where they later got married in 2014 and spent several family holidays together throughout their relationship.
Pitt filed new court documents Friday at Los Angeles County Superior Court and claimed Jolie intentionally “sought to inflict harm on” him by selling her interests in the wine company. Pitt says they had agreed to never sell their respective shares without the other’s permission. He also asked for a trial by jury in the papers obtained by PEOPLE.
“Mr. Pitt’s lawsuit against Ms. Jolie is an extension of a false narrative, and the truth of the situation has still not been made public,” an insider now tells PEOPLE. “After the events that led to Ms. Jolie filing for divorce and her years devoted to caring for their children, Ms. Jolie and the children have not been able to return to the property, and she made the difficult decision to sell her stake in the business. After making multiple offers to her ex-husband, and knowing the business will be inherited by their children, she found a business partner with experience in the alcohol industry.”
The source adds, “It’s unfortunate that after she properly and legally exited the business, Mr. Pitt is entangling her in multiple lawsuits.”
However, a source close to Pitt says, “This makes no sense. The best way to retain value for the family would have been for one of their parents to retain ownership of an increasingly valuable asset. He could have bought her out. There’s a lot more value in a family owning 100 percent than 40 to 50 percent.”
In his new filing, Pitt’s lawyers state that the winery became his “passion” project, expanding “into a multimillion-dollar global business and one of the world’s most highly regarded producers of rosé wine” because of his efforts. The actor accuses Jolie of contributing “nothing to Miraval’s success.”
His legal team also alleges she intentionally violated their agreement in October when she allegedly hid the sale of her shares to Tenute del Mondo, which is “bent on taking control of Miraval” and is “indirectly owned and controlled by Yuri Shefler, the Russian billionaire who controls the Stoli Group.”
Pitt’s lawsuit claims that Jolie’s business Nouvel owed his company Mondo Bongo the right of first refusal, and the sale infringed on that right. Jolie, who filed for divorce in 2016, was previously cleared to sell her share of the estate in September.
Pitt is suing for breach of implied-in-fact contract; breach of quasi-contract, pleaded in the alternative; breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; abuse of rights under Article 6-1 of the Luxembourg Civil Code; tortious interference with contractual relations; tortious interference with prospective business relations; and constructive trust.
He is seeking damages “in an amount to be proven at trial” plus the purported sale made by Jolie to be declared “null and void.”
[via]
