The Vineyard Vendetta: Jolie's Legal Feud with Pitt Escalates Over French Estate
A fierce legal battle ensues as Angelina Jolie, reportedly resentful, furthers her lawsuit against ex-spouse Brad Pitt, accusing the star of depleting resources of their shared French vineyard for personal pursuits. The suit criticizes Pitt's behaviour, likening it to a “petulant child” squandering the vineyard's profits on luxury renovations.
In 2008, the former couple, Pitt, 59, and Jolie, 48, famed for her portrayal in Maleficent, invested $28 million in the French property, Chateau Miraval. The estate, which has now grown exponentially in value to an astonishing $164 million, has a flourishing vineyard that raked in $16 million from rosé wine sales in 2022 alone.
The dispute heightened when Jolie, in what Pitt terms a surprise move, sold her half-share to Russian tycoon Yuri Shefler in 2021. The suit paints a picture of Pitt as a disillusioned child dealing in “illusions, not dirt and grapes." Pitt, in his defence, asserts that they had an agreement not to sell the sprawling 35-room mansion and vineyard without mutual consent.
Jolie's camp strongly refutes the existence of such an agreement. An insider shared, "The sale was a business decision she had every right to make. To safeguard her mental health and well-being, she sought what she believed would be an effective business partner for Pitt.”
The lawsuit alleges Pitt of undertaking drastic measures to retain control of the property and accuses him of liquidating the winery's assets. The legal duel over the vineyard is an offshoot of Jolie's original divorce filing in 2016, wherein she accused Pitt of assault during an inebriated episode on a private plane, involving one of their six children.
As previously reported by GLOBE, Pitt vehemently denied these allegations, subsequently cleared by a thorough investigation carried out by California's child welfare agents.