Following the high-profile trials of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the United States may be ready for another outrageous trial. According to reports, Brad Pitt has demanded a jury trial against ex-wife Angelina Jolie, saying that she sold her half ownership in his winery, Château Miraval, without his agreement. He claims that he and Jolie agreed that nobody should sell their commercial interests in Miraval without the approval of the other.
According to court filings, Pitt filed an updated lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, June 3. Pitt went on to say that he feels Jolie purposefully “decided to seek to wreak pain on him” by selling her stake in their firm. “Pitt and Jolie bought the château to share with their kids and the vineyard to run as a family company.” They promised that they would never sell their respective stakes in Miraval without the approval of each other. “The couple spent the holidays in Miraval with their children and were married there in 2014,” according to court records.
“The vineyard became Pitt’s passion — and a successful one, as Miraval has evolved into a multimillion-dollar worldwide company and one of the world’s most acclaimed makers of rosé wine under Pitt’s supervision,” the filing stated. “Jolie, on the other hand, made no contribution to Miraval’s success.” Instead, she let Pitt pour money and sweat work into the company in exchange for the permission right she owed him and the right of first refusal her corporate entity gave him.”
In the paperwork, Jolie sold her ownership in Chateau Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, the wine business of the Stoli Group, whom Pitt characterized as a “hostile third-party adversary focused on gaining control of Miraval” in October 2021. Mondo is owned and run unofficially by Yuri Shefler, the Russian billionaire who owns the Stoli Group and whose signature Russian vodka, Stolichnaya, has faced boycott demands in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Jolie and Pitt bought a majority share in Château Miraval in 2008 and married there in 2014. Despite their divorce, the couple remained business partners in Miraval, the wine brand made from the property’s vines and noted for its rosé.
Pitt sued Jolie in February of this year for selling the rest of their interest. At the time of the suit’s filing, Jolie’s attorney, Robert Olson, told Newsweek, “The press is claiming that Mr. Pitt has filed another lawsuit against Ms. Jolie.” “She has not yet been served, and we are hearing about the complaint through the media, who seem to have been allowed access to the report in order to generate a news narrative before Ms. Jolie was ever served.”
Pitt accuses Jolie of “purposefully keeping Pitt in the dark, and willfully breaking Pitt’s contractual rights” with the objective of harming his developing company. “Precisely as Jolie envisioned, that is exactly what Shefler has done, “according to the lawsuit.” “Since claiming to have acquired Jolie’s shareholding in Miraval, Shefler has begun a hostile takeover of the wine industry, undermining Miraval’s operations and attempting to get access to Miraval’s sensitive and proprietary information for the advantage of his rival firm.” According to the lawsuit, Jolie “has attempted to coerce Pitt into a relationship with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with toxic ties and ambitions.” According to the lawsuit, Pitt and his LLC, Mondo Bongo, “seek a jury trial” to resolve the case.