July 10, 2023, published at 6:13 p.m. ET
Angelina JolieThe actress’s former company attacked the actress’s ex-husband Brad Pitt in the ongoing battle for a $165 million French estate, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Nouvel, the company once owned by Jolie but sold to a third party, has filed an amended complaint against Pitt seeking $250 million in damages.
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As we previously reported, Pitt and Jolie bought the estate/winery named Chateau Miraval in 2008 while they were married. The actor said they planned to create a family business to pass down to their children.
Last year, Pitt sued Jolie, accusing her of breaking a promise not to sell their individual interests in the company without the other’s approval.
In his lawsuit, he claimed that Jolie approached him in 2021 to tell him she wanted to sell her stake. Pitt said he agreed to work on finding a third party to buy her stake or else find financing to buy it.
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However, he claimed that Jolie backed out of the talks after a decision was made in their custody war that was unfavorable to her. The actor said his ex went behind his back and sold her stake to a company called Tenute del Mondo owned by Stoli Group.
Pitt said Tenute del Mondo is “indirectly owned and controlled” by a Russian oligarch named Yuri Shefler. Pitt said his “vengeful” ex-wife “secretly collaborated” with Shefler to ensure he was “kept in the dark”.
He further believed that Jolie made the deal with the man associated with Putin to ruin Chateau’s reputation.
Nouvel filed a countersuit, accusing Pitt of trying to “seize control of the winery” to ensure that Jolie would “never see a penny” of his winnings.
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Further, the company accused Pitt of trying to force Jolie to sign a “silence clause” that would prohibit her from discussing the divorce as part of the winery negotiations. It said Jolie was ready to sell her stake to Pitt before he presented the clause.
“Pitt has frozen Nouvel Castle Miraval and treats it as his personal fief,” the countersuit read.
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Nouvel accused Pitt of wasting millions of company assets on vanity projects and even accused him of secretly moving assets to companies owned by him and his friends.
“Pitt squandered his assets and spent millions on vanity projects, including more than $1 million on pool renovations,” the suit read.
In the amended lawsuit, Nouvel attacked Pitt for suggesting that Stoli Group and its founder Shefler are “connected in some way to Vladimir Putin”. They called the allegations “categorically false.”
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“This is a desperate attempt to divert attention from Pitt’s toxic media coverage – from his construction of unlivable homes for Hurricane Katrina victims, to his close association with notorious predator Harvey Weinstein, to the recent disturbing revelations of alcohol abuse towards his family. Pitt is also wrong. It’s not the Stoli Group or Shefler whose reputation poses a commercial risk to Chateau Miraval – it’s its own reputation,” Nouvel said.
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The company explains, “In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Pitt founded the Make It Right Foundation, an effort to provide homes for victims. But that initiative turned into lawsuits and accusations when it was revealed that the homes Pitt’s foundation built used flawed designs and materials, and now have major problems with water infiltration, mold, structural damage and gas leaks. Only six of the 109 homes built are in reasonably good condition.”
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Regarding Weinstein, Nouvel said: “Pitt also worked with disgraced predator and rapist Harvey Weinstein, even though the press has reported that Jolie revealed to Pitt that Weinstein assaulted her in the late 1990s and urged him not to be with Weinstein to go. Pitt has also publicly acknowledged knowing about Weinstein’s sexual misconduct towards Pitt’s ex-girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow. But Pitt ignored these warnings. He starred in a Weinstein co-produced film in 2009 and even asked Weinstein to produce his own film in 2012, which Weinstein later distributed. Pitt’s close relationship with Weinstein contributed to his media woes.”
In the past, Paltrow praised Pitt for standing up to Weinstein in 1995. She claimed the actor confronted the producer after Paltrow told him Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. She claimed that Pitt told Weinstein, “If you ever make her uncomfortable again, I’ll kill you.”
Nouvel said while Pitt accused Shefler and company of ties to Putin – that was not the truth.
“In reality, Stoli and Shefler have been waging a well-publicized and well-documented battle against Putin for decades. The fight between Shefler and Putin is so well known that it must be that Pitt simply decided to deliberately misrepresent the facts,” the lawsuit said.
Further, Nouvel denied Pitt’s claim that Shefler had attempted a “hostile” takeover of Chateau.
The company accused Pitt and his associates of misusing Chateau’s assets. “Pitt’s bullying tactics started with Jolie. She wouldn’t be bullied by them, and neither would Nouvel. Instead, Nouvel will pursue all legal remedies it has against anyone, including Pitt and his co-conspirators, who must be held civilly and criminally responsible for their actions,” the indictment said.