Actor Brad Pitt has filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, accusing her of illegally selling off her share of their French estate, Château Miraval.
In court documents obtained by TMZ, it was revealed that the former couple bought Chateau Miraval in Correns, France back in 2008. Brad said he invested a ton of money and time in the winery over the years, although he acknowledges Angelina plunked down 40% of the $28.4 million purchase price.
Brad says he alone made the winery successful because by 2013 Jolie wasn’t doing much in that department. The actor alleges they agreed that none of them would sell their share of the Château (where they married in 2014) and its profitable vineyard without agreement from the other party.
He further claimed that when the vineyard became “Pitt’s passion,” Jolie brazenly sold off her share to Russian businessman Yuri Shefler without his permission.
The court documents, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, read;
“Jolie consummated the purported sale without Pitt’s knowledge, denying Pitt the consent right she owed him and the right of first refusal her business entity owed his.
“She sold her interest with the knowledge and intention that Shefler and his affiliates would seek to control the business to which Pitt had devoted himself and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval.”
The Miraval estate is located in the village of Correns in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. The 35-room mansion is surrounded by lush gardens with a moat, fountains, aqueducts, a pond, a chapel, and a vineyard that Pitt says he has invested a large amount of money in.
While the couple’s messy divorce has been finalized, they are still embroiled in court battles over child custody and their considerable assets.
Pitt developed the vineyard at Miraval into a multimillion-dollar business and one of the world’s top producers of rosé wine.
But the court papers state that, by 2013, “Jolie stopped contributing altogether” for the renovations, while Pitt “continued to invest millions of dollars … [funding] roughly 70 percent of the couple’s investment in Miraval.”
Last July, Jolie went to court and told a judge she had reached an agreement to sell her stake to an unnamed person. Pitt says in September he agreed to allow Angelina to pursue the sale but made it clear he was not consenting to the sale, but rather would give thumbs up or down to the proposed buyer.
Pitt claimed that he was shocked to learn in October 2021, that a company called Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group (the vodka co.), controlled by Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler, bought her interest in the winey.
He says Angelina never sought his consent and intentionally kept the terms of the deal from him. Brad says Shefler has wreaked havoc on his ability to run the winery.
A source told TMZ;
“Unfortunately, this is another example of the same person disregarding her legal and ethical obligations. In doing so, she has violated the rights of the only person who poured money and sweat equity into the success of the business by purporting to sell both the business and family home to a third-party competitor.
“She is seeking a return on an investment she did not make and profits she did not earn.”
