Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie's Messy Winery Battle Explained
Despite separating and filing for divorce in 2016, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are still not free from each other. Although they were both declared legally single in 2019, per CNN, their divorce has yet to be finalized, partly because they are still fighting for custody of their remaining minor children (Jolie sought sole custody, while Pitt wanted it to be joint), and also because they are still at odds about the ownership of Château Miraval, the French winery they lived in once upon a time.
It was in 2008 when the former couple signed a long-term lease on the sprawling estate. Four years later, they reportedly purchased it for a whopping $60 million with the intention of making it their home, and in 2013, the two decided to launch a wine company named after the chateau, Miraval Wine. In 2014, they married in the very same vineyard.
As one can imagine, it all came crumbling down in 2016 when Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt. It was initially unclear who ended up taking ownership of the estate, but in 2021, reports noted that Jolie sold all her stake in it, which Pitt took issue with. Chaos, of course, ensued.
Angelina Jolie reportedly blindsided Brad Pitt with sale of her Château Miraval shares
Brad Pitt isn't happy that Angelina Jolie sold her stakes in Château Miraval reportedly without his consent. According to court documents obtained by E! News, Pitt maintained that he and his ex-wife initially had a "mutual and binding commitment" that they would not barter deals regarding their shares without the approval of the other. However, the "Salt" actor apparently went ahead anyway and sold hers to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler, who owns the liquor brand Stoli vodka. Jolie also purportedly refused to sell the stakes to Pitt. The suit read: "Pitt was shocked by the announcement of the sale. Had Jolie honored her contractual obligations, Pitt would not have consented to the sale."
To make matters more complicated, Shefler, who controls Tenute del Mondo — the very company Jolie had entrusted her shares to — was reportedly "bent on taking control of Miraval," per documents acquired by People. "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 complaint read.
Jolie's clandestine move, as Pitt claimed, was "sought to inflict harm on" him and the venture that he developed "into a multimillion-dollar global business and one of the world's most highly regarded producers of rosé wine." He also asserted that he worked on Miraval's growth alone, with Jolie reportedly giving virtually "nothing" to take the company to where it is today.
Angelina Jolie reportedly no longer wanted to be involved in a business that involved alcohol
In a cross-complaint filed by Angelina Jolie's team, she denied Brad Pitt's allegations against her and clarified that she never entered an agreement with him that forbade her from selling her Château Miraval shares without his knowledge. She also allegedly tried selling him her part of the estate. However, Pitt reportedly demanded that she sign an NDA that hinders her from "speaking outside of court about Pitt's physical and emotional abuse of her and their children," which is apparently in connection to the controversial plane ride the Jolie-Pitt family took in 2016. "Jolie refused to agree to such a provision, and Pitt walked away from the deal," her legal team noted in the filing, per People. Still following?
Outside of all this legal mumbo jumbo, Jolie reportedly wrote Pitt a lengthy email explaining why she sold her part of the business, with the main reason being that it's "centered around alcohol ... when alcoholic behavior [reportedly of Pitt's] harmed our family." In a copy of the email obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Jolie described the chateau as "the place we brought the twins [Knox and Vivienne] home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother's memory." In spite of those memories, Jolie decided she had to walk away.
Jolie concluded: "Miraval, for me, died September 2016, and everything I have seen in the years since has sadly confirmed that."