Brad Pitt Makes Bold Legal Move Against Ex-Wife Angelina Jolie As Battle Over French Winery Rages On

Yahoo

4 days ago

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's feud over their French winery, Château Miraval, is far from over.
Despite the former couple recently finalizing their divorce, they remain embroiled in a heated legal battle over the winery, in which Jolie sold her stake back in 2021, allegedly without Pitt's consent.
Brad Pitt is now seeking to depose his "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" co-star's company, Nouvel LLC, through which the sale of her stake was made.
Reports have emerged revealing that Brad Pitt wants to depose Angelina Jolie's company, Nouvel LLC, in their long-running feud over the French winery they once co-owned.
The former couple purchased the estate in 2011 for around $60 million and continued to co-own it even after their split in 2016. However, in 2021, Jolie sold her stake in the winery to the Stoli Group, prompting Pitt to file a lawsuit in which he claimed the sale was made without his approval, as required by their agreement.
Now, according to The U.S. Sun, Pitt has asked a court to compel Nouvel LLC to sit for a deposition regarding their initial investment in the winery.
He is also demanding the same from another party, Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group to whom Jolie sold her stake.
Additionally, the actor wants information on their "subsequent financial contributions to the home and winery at the heart of this dispute."
Elsewhere in the filing for the deposition, Pitt also accused his ex-wife of selling her stake in the winery in an underhanded manner to the group that ultimately purchased it, despite being in negotiations with him over the same stake.
"On March 30, 2021, a lawyer for Stoli Group contacted Jolie's California-based divorce lawyer to inquire whether she would be interested in selling her stake in Miraval, Brad alleged in one recent filing," the filing revealed.
"Throughout May 2021, while Jolie was still purporting to negotiate with Pitt and Mark Perrin [Brad's partner in Miraval], Stoli and Jolie continued to negotiate in secret."
During the course of these behind-the-scenes negotiations, Jolie's "transactional counsel" allegedly provided "detailed feedback" to Stoli and its negotiators. This information, seemingly taken from discussions with Pitt, included "what it would take for Stoli to beat Pitt's offer."
According to the filing, Jolie and Stoli Group eventually agreed on a price of around $65 million, which was kept secret from Pitt, thereby denying him the opportunity to match or exceed the offer.
In December 2024, Pitt and Jolie settled their divorce, a legal battle that had lasted more than eight years.
Shortly after, Jolie released a statement via her lawyer, James Simon, in which she expressed relief over finalizing her split.
"More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time, she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family. This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over," the attorney said in a statement, per CNN.
For now, the financial details of the split remain unclear, as they were not disclosed. Additionally, information about the former couple's custody arrangement for their two minor children has not been released, though it is believed that Jolie has primary custody most of the time.
Unlike Jolie's expression of relief, Pitt said that finalizing his divorce wasn't a big deal to him, just something that was bound to happen eventually.
"No, I don't think it was that major of a thing," the father of six told GQ Magazine. "Just something coming to fruition. Legally."
Weeks later, he opened up about making mistakes in his life during an interview at the premiere of his adrenaline-fueled car action film, "F1."
"No matter the mistake, you know, you just learn from [it] and move on," the actor told Entertainment Tonight. "It'll lead to the next success."
While Pitt gave no details about whether he was partly referring to his failed marriage while talking about his past mistakes, the actor hinted that family was also part of what has helped him navigate these moments.
"At my age, I see how important it is to surround yourself with the people you know, the people you love, the people that love you back," the 61-year-old shared further.
He added, "Friends, family, and that's it. From there, we get to go make things. It's a pretty simple, I think, equation."