Hollywood actor, producer and director, Brad Pitt says his ex-wife Angelina Jolie “secretly” plotted to sell her share of their French estate, Château Miraval, to get back at him amid their bitter custody battle.
According to legal documents newly obtained by entertainment site, Page Six, Pitt claims that he and Jolie agreed they would never sell their share in the $30 million property — which they bought in 2008 without the other’s approval.
But after they got divorced in 2019, Jolie decided she wanted out and started to negotiate a buy-out option with Pitt, 59.
The 47-year-old allegedly even agreed to divide the business up 68 percent to 38 percent in Pitt’s favor because he had invested more money and time into the project.
But in the summer of 2021, Pitt found out via a press statement that the actress had sold her 50 percent stake to a “Russian oligarch,” whom Pitt had previously turned down.
Pitt claims his “vindictive” ex-wife “collaborated in secret” with Yuri Shefler, who also owns Stoli Group, to ensure he would be “kept in the dark.”
The new filings claim that Jolie “no longer wanted to sell to Pitt” in the “wake of the adverse custody ruling,” in which he was granted joint custody of their six children, a decision that was later overturned.
“Her decision to terminate negotiations with Pitt was intentional and pretextual,” the document filed in LA Superior Court states. “As will be demonstrated at trial, Jolie’s actions were unlawful, severely and intentionally damaging Pitt and unjustly enriching herself.”
Not only that, Pitt believes his ex-wife specifically chose Shefler because she knew it would be bad for business given his ties to Vladimir Putin — specifically his “invasion of Ukraine and homophobic legislative agenda.”
“Stoli and Jolie have sought to force Pitt into a partnership with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions,” the document alleges.
Now that half of the property has been sold to a third party, Pitt says it defeats the purpose of buying Miraval as a “loving home for their six children” in the first place.
The latest court filings come nine months after Jolie filed a $250 million counter-suit against Pitt for trying to “seize control” of the French winery to “ensure… [she] would never see a dime” of its vast profits.
The suit which Jolie’s company, Nouvel, brought — also claimed that Pitt tried to force Jolie to sign a “hush-clause” that would silence her from discussing the circumstances of their divorce.
“In retaliation for the divorce and custody proceedings, Pitt embarked on a multi-faceted, years-long campaign to seize control of Chateau Miraval and appropriate the company’s assets for his benefit and that of his own companies and friends.
“Appointing himself the rightful owner of Chateau Miraval, his twin objectives were to usurp the value of Jolie’s company, Nouvel, and to obtain sole ownership of Chateau Miraval.”
The Miraval estate is located in the village of Correns in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France.
The 35-room mansion is surrounded by lush gardens with a moat, fountains, aqueducts, a pond, a chapel and a vineyard. The pair even married at Chateau Miraval in 2014 during an intimate ceremony.