Brad Pitt Hurls Surprising Accusation At ‘Vindictive’ Ex Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been divorced since 2019, but their legal war against each other is still ongoing, and it’s just taken a decidedly dark turn.

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Pitt Hurls Accusation At Jolie

Daily Mail reported that Pitt has accused Jolie of trying to hurt him by secretly selling her share of the couple’s French vineyard to “a Russian oligarch” who he claims has “poisonous intentions.” In legal documents, Pitt claimed that these intentions include a devious plan to take complete control of the entire multi-million dollar business.

Jolie sold her stake in the thriving vineyard to Yuri Shefler, the owner of the company that makes the flagship Russian vodka Stolichnaya, which has been renamed Stoli. Pitt claims that having made “desperate attempts to disassociate himself from the Putin regime, the Stoli brand is now a massive international liability.”

“Stolichnaya has been the object of boycotts throughout the world,” the legal documents state. “The US Treasury Department designated Shefler as an ‘oligarch in the Russian Federation’ in an unclassified report to Congress made pursuant to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017.”

Related: Brad Pitt Gets Huge News After Long-Fought Custody Battle With Angelina Jolie

Chateau Is Pitt’s ‘Passion’

The court papers go on to say that the vineyard, which is where the former couple tied the knot back in 2014, has become Pitt’s “passion” as he’s turned it into a massive international success. Pitt’s lawyers say that last October, Jolie “purported to sell her interest to Tenute del Mondo, a hostile third-party competitor bent on taking control of Miraval.” They added that she did this to “inflict harm on Pitt.”

Sources say that the timing of when Jolie did this was around the same time a judge issued a tentative ruling that gave Pitt 50/50 custody over the five minor children (at the time) that they’ve been engaged in a bitter custody battle over. 

“Jolie was livid, and vindictive,” one insider said. 

“Jolie pursued and then consummated the purported sale in secret, purposely keeping Pitt in the dark, and knowingly violating Pitt’s contractual rights,” Pitt’s lawyers alleged. “By doing so, Jolie sought to seize profits she had not earned and returns on an investment she did not make. Also through the purported sale, Jolie sought to inflict harm on Pitt.”

“Jolie knew and intended that Shefler and his affiliates would try to control the business Pitt had built and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval,” they added. “And just as Jolie envisioned, that is exactly what Shefler has done.”

Related: Maddox Jolie-Pitt Gives “Unflattering” Testimony Against Brad In Angelina Jolie Custody Battle

The Couple Planned To Sell In 2016

In 2016, Daily Mail reported that the couple would put the brand and its vineyards up for sale. They found a buyer but, according to an article in the New York Post, “legal blockades” were holding up the sale.

According to Jolie’s legal team:

“Ms. Jolie is extremely desirous of closing the pending agreement for the sale of Nouvel, LLC [which holds her stake in the property], and requests that the Court issue an order lifting the ATROs [the Automatic Temporary Restraining Order keeping her from making the sale] and specifying that they shall not apply to Ms. Jolie’s sale of Nouvel, LLC.”

But the business had become a passion project for Pitt.

Pitt’s Fears Are Realized

Pitt’s lawyers went on to add that “Shefler has launched a hostile takeover of the wine business, destabilizing Miraval’s operations and seeking access to Miraval’s confidential and proprietary information for the benefit of his competing enterprise.”

The attorneys concluded by saying that “in violation of the parties’ agreement, Jolie has sought to force Pitt into partnership with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions.”

Pitt and Jolie fell in love on the set of the 2005 movie Mr. And Mrs. Smith, and they would go on to have six children together. Their divorce was nasty as soon as it began back in 2016, and it’s unfortunate that it continues to be all these years later. For the sake of their children, we can only hope that Pitt and Jolie someday find a way to be civil to one another. Given this lawsuit, however, it seems that this won’t be happening anytime soon. 

Pitt Wants A Jury Trial

Just days after the verdict in the Depp v. Heard defamation case was announced, Pitt filed an amended complaint requesting a jury trial. The timing may be coincidental, or it may suggest that Pitt is hoping Jolie will agree to a quick settlement to avoid the possibility of a public, drawn-out disaster like the one Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were.

If the case does go to trial, and if Pitt is hoping to benefit from his charisma like Depp, Pitt might not have the advantage he expects. The primary reason Depp v. Heard was such a carnival was that TV cameras were allowed in the courtroom. Future judges presiding over celebrity trials aren’t likely to make the same mistake.