Actor Brad Pitt has accused his ex-wife Angelina Jolie of secretly plotting to sell her portion of their French estate, Château Miraval, to retaliate against him amid their contentious custody battle.
According to legal documents, Pitt claims that he and Jolie had agreed not to sell their stake in the $30 million property without each other’s consent. However, following their divorce in 2019, Jolie allegedly expressed her desire to exit the venture and began negotiating a buy-out arrangement with Pitt.
Jolie even consented to a distribution of 68 percent to 38 percent in Pitt’s favor due to his greater financial and time investments in the project. Nonetheless, Pitt discovered in the summer of 2021, through a press release, that Jolie had sold her 50 percent stake.
Pitt accuses his ex-wife of secretly collaborating with Yuri Shefler, the owner of Stoli Group, to ensure that he remained unaware of the transaction. The legal filings assert that Jolie changed her mind about selling to Pitt following an unfavorable custody ruling, in which he was initially granted joint custody of their six children, which was later overturned. The documents filed in LA Superior Court claim that Jolie’s actions were deliberate, unlawful, and caused severe and intentional harm to Pitt while unjustly benefiting herself.
Pitt believes that Jolie selected Shefler as the buyer because she knew it would harm business, given his associations with Vladimir Putin.
With half of the property now in the hands of a third party, Pitt contends that the original purpose of acquiring Château Miraval as a loving home for their children has been undermined.
These recent legal filings follow nine months after Jolie filed a $250 million counter-suit against Pitt, alleging that he attempted to seize control of the French winery to prevent her from profiting from its substantial earnings. The suit, brought by Jolie’s company Nouvel, also claimed that Pitt sought to impose a confidentiality clause to prevent her from discussing the details of their divorce.
