‘Petulent’ Brad Pitt accused of ‘robbing’ Provence vineyard owned by Angelina Jolie

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Lawyers suing the actor claim Brad Pitt “plundered” the Château Miraval vineyard he co-owned with ex-wife Angelina Jolie in Provence, millions of dollars in profits on swimming pool renovations and a recording studio. Have spent

Novell, a company through which Jolie previously had stakes in French wineries, said in a lawsuit filed in a California court on Monday that Pitt and his partners owed it more than $350 million. The company alleged that they “engaged in increasingly abusive actions to maintain control” over Château Miraval, while allegedly “taking away its assets (rose growers)”.

The allegation that Pitt acted like a “squeaky child” while engaging in an “apparent money grab” is the latest attack in a bitter legal tussle between the Hollywood stars, who filed for divorce in 2016 under acrimonious circumstances, including Jolie accused Pitt. A drunken assault on her and the couple’s children while on a private flight to the US.

The 59-year-old, who spent last weekend shooting his upcoming Formula 1 film at the Silverstone motor racing track in the UK, has denied the allegations of assault, and in a previous court case accused Jolie of attempting to damage her reputation by selling her stake. is accused of. Miraval to Russian-born billionaire Yuri Scheffler’s Stoli Group for $64 million in 2021 “behind Pitt’s back”. Pitt said in previous filings that the two had agreed that “they would sell their interests separately only with each other’s consent”, a claim Jolie has denied.

The depth of the couple’s domestic feud has been highlighted in lawsuits over the future of the vineyard, which the couple bought together in 2008 for €25mn, after visiting several properties on France’s Mediterranean coast. The rosé brand he founded at the estate, with the help of renowned Rhône winemaker Marc Perrin, has become an international bestseller, generating profits of more than €15mn in 2022, according to the filing.

Novell’s attorneys claimed on Monday that since the divorce, Pitt “has so far successfully planned to obtain de facto control of Château Miraval”, alleging that he had dissuaded Scheffler’s Stoli by refusing to appoint neutral directors. The company was barred from running. The board of the Luxembourg-based entity through which the vineyard is governed.

Neither Pitt nor Perrin’s attorneys immediately responded to requests for comment.

Pitt’s attorneys previously accused Scheffler and Stoli of attempting to “hostilely take possession” of the vineyard where the two actors were married. Pitt also says he still owns 60 percent of the estate, claiming he only “nominally” transferred 10 percent to Jolie in 2013.

Novell’s legal team said Jolie initially tried to sell her stake in Miraval to Pitt, but walked away because the deal was contingent on him signing a non-disparagement agreement.

He further alleged that Pitt “wasted company assets, spent millions on vanity projects, including more than $1 million on renovating a swimming pool, building and rebuilding a staircase four times, and refurbishing a recording studio.” involves spending millions to do”. He further stated that Pitt “spent approximately one million euros a year on continuous stone wall reconstruction using masons from Croatia”, and approximately €3 million on unspecified expenses such as “garment work”.

In Monday’s filing, Scheffler’s company accused Pitt’s team of launching a “xenophobic, Putin-worthy untruth campaign” against the Russian-born entrepreneur, whom it said was forced into exile because of his criticism of the Kremlin. Was done and he stood up for LGBT. Right. Pitt’s lawyers previously alleged that Stoli’s ownership “risks damaging Miraval’s carefully honed reputation and brand” because of his alleged ties to Russian and Saudi Arabian state actors.

Nouvel claimed that Pitt passed half the value of Miraval’s trademark to Perrin without the express permission of Jolie’s former holding company, a joint owner. The trademarks were originally registered ahead of a potential joint venture with luxury goods group LVMH, Novell said in court documents, although no such deal ever moved forward.

Earlier this year, LVMH bought a majority stake in Château Minutié in Provence, after acquiring a controlling interest in Château d’Escalans, another local rosé winery, in 2019.

Responding to claims that Jolie “didn’t do any of the work necessary for Miraval’s success”, but instead “stood by while Pitt invested money and sweat equity into the home and business”, Novell’s lawyers said. : “Jolie and Pitt’s endorsement is what made Miraval a successful brand – more successful than the competing roses of the famille Perrin.”

They disputed that Pitt, who has won Academy Awards as a producer and actor, was deeply devoted to viticulture. “Pitt is an actor, not a winemaker. He wrote, “He deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes.”