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As Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie continue to battle over property and other divorce details, things are getting ugly. Brad, 58, has now accused the Salt actress, 47, of attempting to “inflict harm” on him, according to court documents obtained by HollywoodLife, by secretly selling her stake in his French vineyard to “a Russian oligarch” with “poisonous intentions.” Said supposed malicious intentions allegedly include a plan to take complete control of their multi-million dollar Chateau Miraval winery.
Angelina apparently sold half of the successful business to a company run by Yuri Shefler, the owner of the company which makes the Russian vodka Stolichnaya, renamed Stoli. The papers allege that since Yuri has made an attempt to distance himself from Russian president, Vladimir Putin and his regime, the Stoli brand is now an “international liability,” citing Putin’s destructive invasion of Ukraine.
“Jolie pursued and then consummated the purported sale in secret, purposely keeping Pitt in the dark, and knowingly violating Pitt’s contractual rights,” Brad’s attorneys claim in the documents, citing Angelina’s sale to the Stoli Group through Yuri. “By doing so, Jolie sought to seize profits she had not earned and returns on an investment she did not make. Also through the purported sale, Jolie sought to inflict harm on Pitt,” the documents claim.
“Jolie 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 statement continue. “And just as Jolie envisioned, that is exactly what Shefler has done.”
“In violation of the parties’ agreement, Jolie has sought to force Pitt into partnership with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions,” the docs continue, also claiming the sale violates an agreement the couple made at the start of their partnership in the 1000-acre estate which they bought in 2008. The agreement gave Brad first refusal to buy her stake if she wanted to sell, the judge was notified.
The chateau located in the South of France is where the couple tied the knot in 2014, and it became Brad’s “passion,” as well as one of the world’s well-regarded producers of rosé wine, according to the court papers. In October 2021, however, things got messy when Angelina “purported to sell her interest to Tenute del Mondo, a hostile third-party competitor bent on taking control of Miraval,” the papers filed by Pitt’s attorneys claim, saying the motivation for the Maleficent actress was, well, malevolent in nature.
Sources also note that the timing of the sale was linked to a judge’s decision to issue a tentative ruling granting Brad 50/50 custody in the couple’s bitter battle of their five children, Maddox, 20, Zahara, 16, Pax, 17, Shiloh, 15, Vivienne, 13, and Knox, 13. The duo currently share joint custody, a decision that Angelina has been working to overturn.
Angelina filed for divorce from Brad in 2016 after over a decade together, citing irreconcilable differences. In an interview with Vogue India last June, Angelina opened up about the split, explaining that the decision was for the “wellbeing” of her children. “It was the right decision,” she said. “I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people.”
