Sophia Michaels
Au contraire, mon ami!
Brad Pitt filed new court papers yesterday wining that Angelina Jolie refused to sell her half of their French vineyard, Chateau Miraval, to him because she was feeling “vindictive” because a custody ruling didn’t go her way.
But a source close to the actress claims to Page Six that she didn’t call off the deal because she had a bee in her bonnet — but because Pitt tried to stop her from speaking out about his abuse their children.
Pitt, of course, was accused of “choking and striking” one of their kids during an infamous cross-country private flight in 2016, as well as “pouring beer” on Jolie.
Pointing to court papers filed in 2022, a pal of Jolie’s told us, “The reality is that [he] refused to complete the Miraval sale with Jolie unless she agreed to being silenced about the abuse… He demanded that $8.5 million dollars be held back [from his payment to her for the winery] to force her to keep quiet.” (The idea was that if she blabbed, Pitt would keep some or all of the $8.5 mil).
The insider added that, whatever legal maneuvering the “Seven” star attempts, “He cannot escape from the fact that he verbally and physically assaulted Ms. Jolie and their children—even choking one of the children and striking another.”
(A source close to Pitt told us the pal’s claim is “misleading.” The Pitt insider said that Pitt only ever asked her to sign a standard business NDA related to the winery purchase, which anyone selling a valuable asset would have to sign. “It wasn’t about the family matters,” they said, “It’s standard to have a NDA that stops someone from selling something, then disparaging it and diminishing its value.”)
According to legal documents filed on Thursday and obtained by Page Six, Pitt claims that he and Jolie agreed not to sell their shares in the $30 million winery in Provence — which they bought in 2008 — without the other’s approval.
When they got divorced in 2019, Jolie decided to sell her stake to Pitt, 59.
Then in 2021, Pitt claims he found out in press release that his “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” co-star had sold her stake to Yuri Shefler, the owner of vodka brand the Stoli Group.
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. (The decision was later overturned.)
A rep for Pitt declined to comment.
