Monsieur et Madame Smith.
Brad Pitt is suing ex-wife Angelina Jolie, accusing her of illegally selling off her share of their French estate, Château Miraval.
Pitt alleges they had agreed that neither would sell their share of the Château — where they married in 2014 — and its profitable vineyard without agreement from the other party.
But the “Fight Club” star claims in the suit that while 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, state, “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.
Jolie, 46, and Pitt, 58, bought the estate in 2008 for $28.4 million, with the intent to bring up their children there and build a family wine business. The couple tied the knot there in 2014, splitting in 2019.
And while their messy divorce has been finalized, the couple is 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.”
In January 2021, “Jolie informed Pitt in writing that she had reached a ‘painful decision, with a heavy heart,’” the suit alleges.
“Jolie explained she had purchased Miraval with Pitt ‘as a family business’ and as the place she believed they ‘would grow old’ together,” the suit continues.
“Nevertheless,” Jolie continued, she could “no longer maintain any ownership position in an alcohol-based business given her personal objections.” Pitt began negotiations to buy out Jolie’s share.
Then, in October 2021, the wine division of the Stoli Group, Tenute del Mondo, announced it purchased Jolie’s 50 percent stake in the estate and the wines it produces. The business is controlled by Russian businessman Shefler.
The sale was a surprise to Pitt, who now claims he is deprived of using the Château as his private home and can no longer oversee the company that he helped to create and invested millions of dollars into.
The suit adds, “Jolie seeks to recover unearned windfall profits for herself while inflicting gratuitous harm on Pitt. Jolie long ago stopped contributing to Miraval — while Pitt poured money and sweat equity into the wine business. Jolie seeks to seize profits she has not earned and returns on an investment she did not make.”
Plus, “The purported sale deprives Pitt of his right to enjoy his private home and to oversee the business he developed from scratch.”
And while Pitt’s investment and work to develop Miraval wine now means the property is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, “Miraval’s success and associated rise in value allowed Jolie an opportunity to capitalize on Pitt’s success and cash out, without ever having lifted a finger to grow the enterprise.”
A source familiar with the situation added, “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.”
Lawyers and a rep for Jolie were not immediately available for comment.