Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie winery dispute heading to trial

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News on Nov 15, 2024

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Brad Pitt will reportedly be bringing his claims against Angelina Jolie to court after the exes’ ongoing battle over their French winery was given the green light to head to trial.

A Los Angeles Super Court judge ruled in favor of the Château Miraval case moving to trial, upholding Pitt’s claims of interference regarding shares in the company, Us Weekly reported Friday. A trial date has not yet been set, but may not happen until 2026.

Pitt sued Jolie in 2022, alleging she “vindictively” and illegally sold her shares in the winery to a Russian billionaire without giving Pitt the chance to match or outbid the offer, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

The “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” star said in the docs the former couple shared an implied contract and “agreed they would never sell their respective interests in Miraval without the other’s consent.”

In response to the judge’s ruling, Jolie’s attorney, Paul Murphy, told Us Weekly the decision “simply means that Mr. Pitt must now actually prove his case.”

“In truth, Mr. Pitt rejected, in writing, the very contract he now claims he had with Angelina,” Murphy said on Friday. “Then, after she filed under seal evidence of domestic abuse, he pulled his offer to buy out Angelina’s share of Miraval unless she signed a revised NDA now expanded to cover Mr. Pitt’s personal conduct.”

Her lawyer previously told Entertainment Tonight that Pitt’s claims “don’t have a legal basis,” as shown by a judge dismissing many of Pitt’s complaints against his ex-wife in March.

“Mr. Pitt’s lawsuit has never been about a business dispute,” Murphy said at the time. “Instead, it is about his attempts to cover up serious abuse, and we are gratified the judge has thrown out so much of Mr. Pitt’s complaint.”

The judge’s new ruling follows Jolie’s attempt in July to get Pitt to drop the suit in order to “end the fighting.” A year earlier, it was reported the Oscar winners would attempt to settle their $350 million dispute out of court through mediation.

Pitt and Jolie, known for years as “Brangelina,” parted ways in 2016 after two years of marriage and more than a decade together. They were declared legally single three years later.

The shocking split followed a 2016 flight on their private plane, during which Jolie claimed Pitt physically abused her and several of their kids.

Together, the A-listers share six children: Maddox, 22; Pax, 19; Zahara, 18; Shiloh, 17; and 15-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

Shiloh followed in Maddox and Zahara’s footsteps in May when she filed to drop Pitt from her last name. That request was legally granted in August.