Brad Pitt says ‘vindictive’ Angelina Jolie sold winery stake to ‘intentionally’ damage his reputation

Brad Pitt and his ex-wife Angelina Jolie had purchased the Miraval wine estate in 2011. Photo: AFP

American actor Brad Pitt’s fight against former wife Angelina Jolie over their wine business continues to drag on.

News outlet CNN obtained a new court filing by 59-year-old Pitt’s attorneys, in which he calls Jolie, 48, vindictive for selling her stake in Chateau Miraval in 2021.

The couple had purchased the Miraval wine estate in 2011.

“As will be demonstrated at trial, Jolie’s actions were unlawful, severely and intentionally damaging Pitt and unjustly enriching herself,” the documents purportedly state.

In response, her attorney told CNN that she had sold the stake because “Pitt refused to complete the Miraval sale with Jolie unless she agreed to being silenced about the abuse”.

The abuse refers to an incident that reportedly occurred in September 2016. In a previous filing in October 2022, Jolie said that during a private flight from France to California, “Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face”.

The Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) actor also allegedly “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her”.

She filed for divorce a few days later.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation looked into the incident, but later closed its investigation without filing any charges.

A previous legal filing by Pitt’s team said that Jolie’s stake was sold to a company linked with Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler.

“Shefler’s Russia-affiliated spirits conglomerate has been the subject of repeated boycotts in connection with Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and homophobic legislative agenda... Shefler may be seeking to launder his reputation by forcing a partnership with one of the world’s most well-known and popular actors,” said that filing, made in February 2022. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network