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Angelina Jolie accuses Brad Pitt of ‘vengeful warfare’ in winery lawsuit

the battle of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt about the couple’s winery continues.

In February, Pitt sued Jolie for what his claim called the “illegal” sale of his stake in Château Miraval, a rural estate and winery in the south of France acquired by the couple in 2008.

In a lawsuit this week, obtained by CNN Jolie accused her ex-husband Brad Pitt of “waging a vengeful war against her” and of “hijacking” control of the lucrative winery business they shared.

Pitt and Jolie were married on the property in 2014 and, according to Pitt’s lawsuit, would vacation there as a family.

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016 after a heated encounter aboard a private jet investigated by the FBI.

After she did so, Jolie’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of her former company Nouvel LLC, alleges that Pitt “and his allies” took “illegal and malicious actions” with the intent to “harm” Jolie and Nouvel by “devaluing its investments and depriving it of its own role in the management of Château Miraval, the world famous producer of rosé wine”.

Jolie is seeking at least $250 million in compensatory damages. THE CNN contacted representatives for Pitt and Jolie for comment.

The counter-suit claims that Pitt “created a so far successful plan to take control of Château Miraval” and mishandled trademark filings that had “devastating financial consequences” for Nouvel.

“Pitt has frozen Nouvel from Château Miraval and treats it as his personal fief,” the lawsuit reads.

The document also says that Pitt “embarked on a multifaceted, years-long campaign to take control of Château Miraval and appropriate the company’s assets for the benefit of himself and his own companies and friends.”

In his pleading, Pitt said that Jolie “did nothing to drive (the) growth” of the business, which he turned into a “multi-million international success story.”

Jolie’s lawsuit disputes this, saying that “Pitt refused to grant Jolie or Nouvel equal access to Château Miraval’s records or an equal voice over management”, effectively “holding the most significant part of his net worth hostage”.

Jolie walked away from the deal in October 2021, selling Nouvel and its stake in Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group, controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler.

Pitt’s lawsuit alleges that the sale was illegal because he and Jolie agreed when they bought Château Miraval that neither would sell without the other’s consent. But Jolie’s counter-suit alleges she made the sale after negotiations between Jolie and Pitt who would have sold Nouvel to Pitt collapsed over “a provision intended to prohibit Jolie from speaking publicly about the events that led to the collapse of her marriage.” .

“Pitt knew that much of Jolie’s wealth and liquidity was tied to the Nouvel and used that fact to try to force Jolie to agree to his unreasonable terms,” ​​the suit reads.

Pitt’s lawsuit did not specify an amount claimed for damages, but included a request for “relief which the Court deems fair and appropriate.”

The dissolution of Pitt and Jolie’s marriage was granted in 2019, but their legal battle over ownership and custody of their minor children continues.

A California appeals court ruled last year that a retired judge who had been hired by both parties to arbitrate the custody dispute should be disqualified because of undisclosed ties to Pitt’s attorneys.

In 2020, Jolie told Vogue India that she split from Pitt because of her children.

Pitt told GQ in 2017 that he stopped drinking after having “drank” too much in the past year. In a June 2022 interview with British GQ, he talked about finding peace recently.

“I’ve always felt very alone in my life,” he told the publication, “alone growing up as a kid, alone even here, and it wasn’t until recently that I got a bigger hug from my friends and family.”

CNN’s Taylor Romaine and Chloe Melas contributed to this story.

Source: CNN Brasil

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