As part of her protracted divorce from actor Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie filed shocking court documents on Tuesday. She claimed that her ex-husband had ‘choked’ one of their six children during a heated argument on a private jet, struck another in the face, and slammed the actress against a wall while grabbing her hair.
As a result of Pitt’s actions on the September 2016 flight from France to California, Jolie claimed she suffered injuries to her back and elbow in addition to the children crying and being traumatized.
She filed for divorce five days after the flight, and in September 2021, she sold her share of the French winery she and Pitt co-owned. Jolie filed a countersuit on Tuesday, accusing him of starting the highly public mudslinging after he sued her over the sale.
‘She has gone to great lengths to try to shield their children from reliving the pain Pitt inflicted on the family that day,’ Jolie’s lawyers write.
‘But when Pitt filed this lawsuit seeking to reassert control over Jolie’s financial life and compel her to rejoin her ex-husband as a frozen-out business partner, Pitt forced Jolie to publicly defend herself on these issues for the first time.’
Jolie described in great detail the violent altercation that she claimed caused their divorce and the ongoing disagreement over the winery which occurred in September 2016.
The couple, who started dating in 2005, acquired Chateau Miraval in 2008.
Jolie claimed that when they purchased the property, their respective representatives talked about signing a contract outlining how the property would be divided in the event of a breakup.
However, she claimed Pitt was against any such agreement.
According to Jolie’s attorneys, Pitt’s financial manager emailed: ‘Early in the process I raised the issue of a buy / sell agreement between A & B but was told by Brad it wasn’t necessary for two reasonable people to have such an agreement.’
The couple wed at the chateau in August 2014 after the notion was abandoned.
She stated in the court documents that she saw it as a home and investment for their family.
Pitt was accused by Jolie of building a fifth swimming pool on the estate at a cost of one million euros without consulting her about it.
But she claimed that at the time, she didn’t object.
‘Jolie had always taken an active role in design for any home she had lived in (and those she has since lived in), and when she and Pitt purchased the chateau, initially expected to do the same for their new home,’ her lawyers write.
‘But Pitt pushed for creative control consistent with his own taste and vision.
‘While Jolie would have preferred a more collaborative approach, she acquiesced to Pitt’s desire to take control over the project, although she sometimes questioned why, for example, the chateau needed a fifth pool at the cost of one million euros, or why the same staircase needed to be rebuilt four times.
‘If Jolie ever questioned such expenditures, Pitt defended them as critical to his vision for the chateau.’
The marriage, according to Jolie, “came to an end” on the flight on September 14, 2016.
‘Throughout the long, overnight flight, Pitt was physically and emotionally abusive to Jolie and their children, who were then between the ages of 8 and 15,’ the court documents claim.
‘After that flight, for her family’s well-being, Jolie decided to file for divorce.’
Before leaving for the airport, she claimed, Pitt “had a confrontation” with one of the kids, and when Jolie questioned him about it on the flight, he “accused her of being too deferential to the children and verbally attacked her.”
Jolie claims that 90 minutes later, Pitt went looking for her and chastised her for her behavior.
‘He pulled her into the bathroom and began yelling at her,’ the court documents state.
‘Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall.
‘Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane numerous times, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom.
‘As she exited, one of their children asked, ‘Are you ok, mommy?’
‘Pitt yelled back, “No, mommy’s not ok” and started deriding Jolie with insults.’
Pitt allegedly “lunged” at a child who spoke up in Jolie’s defense, and Jolie allegedly grabbed him to stop him.
‘To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow.
‘The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other.
‘Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face.
‘Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying.’
Jolie and the kids “sat still and silent” under blankets for the remainder of the flight in an effort to appease Pitt, according to reports.
The lawyers write: ‘Nobody dared to go to the bathroom. Pitt periodically emerged from the back of the plane to yell and swear at them.
‘At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children.
‘After many tense hours, Pitt finally fell asleep.’
Jolie woke him up after landing and informed him that they were staying at a hotel instead of returning to their house with the kids.
‘He shouted that nobody was getting off the plane and prevented the family from deplaning for about 20 minutes,’ the court documents state.
‘After a child intervened and demanded to leave, Pitt finally relented.
‘But once outside the plane door, Pitt again physically abused one of their children.
‘He also grabbed and shook Jolie by the head and shoulders, causing one of the children to beg, ‘Don’t hurt her.’
‘He let Jolie go, but then called her a ‘b****,’ before adding, ‘F*** you, f*** you all.”
Although an investigation was started, no charges were ever brought.
Jolie sued the FBI in April 2022 using the alias “Jane Doe” and demanded to know why the investigation had been abandoned seven months earlier.
Only in August of this year, after Rolling Stone magazine had obtained a copy of the FBI report, were her actions made public.
In her anonymous lawsuit, Jolie claimed that she had repeatedly asked the department for a copy of the case file in order to “better understand the FBI’s investigation” and to obtain the data required for her children to receive medical attention and trauma counseling.
In her court papers, Jolie claims that their disagreement over the winery’s joint ownership grew.
‘With Chateau Miraval now her most important asset, Jolie began to seek a more active role both in understanding the chateau and winery’s various projects and in understanding and overseeing its finances,’ the court documents state.
‘As disputes and complications arose in the related divorce and custody proceedings, Pitt’s conduct hardened as he attempted to cement his control over the winery.’
She claims Pitt tried to force her out of the company and used the money earned from it to finance his personal endeavors.
‘Pitt’s refusal to distribute profits alone gave him substantial leverage and control over Jolie in their ongoing disputes,’ she said.
‘By 2019, Jolie was growing increasingly uncomfortable with continuing to participate in an alcohol-related business, given the impact of Pitt’s acknowledged problem of alcohol abuse on their family.
‘Resigned that Pitt would not share control of the winery or distribute any profits, concerned about participating in a business that was associated with such painful and traumatic memories for her and their children, and seeking financial independence, Jolie concluded that she needed to sell her interest in Chateau Miraval.’
Pitt claims that Jolie sold her stake in the multinational beverage giant Stoli on her own, but Jolie countered on Tuesday that she had given Pitt the option to buy her out.
She claimed a $54.5 million agreement was made to sell her share to Pitt, but he withdrew when she filed abuse claims.
‘In the couple’s child custody case, Jolie submitted under seal (meaning no member of the public could see any portion of it except the document title) an ‘Offer of Proof and Authority re Testimony Regarding Domestic Violence.’
‘This filing apparently enraged Pitt, and in response to that submission, on March 26, 2021, Pitt’s team notified Jolie’s team that Pitt was ‘stepping back’ from the Miraval deal.’
She sold her stake to Stoli in September 2021, and the sale is currently awaiting final court approval.
‘After failing to bully Jolie into agreeing to a non-disparagement clause in exchange for her economic freedom and security, Pitt now claims that Jolie was not authorized to sell her interest in Chateau Miraval and is asking the Court to unwind the sale,’ Jolie’s lawyers write.
‘Again, Pitt’s entire case against Jolie is premised largely on his supposed unwritten, unspoken agreement to always give the other a consent or veto right over any sale of the other’s interest in the chateau and winery no matter the circumstances and no matter whether they even remained a couple.
‘But the first time Jolie ever heard of this supposed consent right was when she was alerted to press reports that Pitt had sued her and later read Pitt’s complaint.’
According to the court documents,
‘Jolie requests that the Court declare that no such agreement exists and that Jolie’s sale of Nouvel to Stoli’s subsidiary is final.
‘With these declarations, Jolie can finally have what she thought she had when she sold Nouvel to Stoli in 2021: To move on from the winery and chateau, to have financial independence from her ex-husband, and to finally have some form of peace and closure to this deeply painful and traumatic chapter of her and their children’s lives.’
A source close to Pitt said: ‘She continues to rehash, revise and reimagine her description of an event that happened six years ago by adding completely untrue information each time she fails to get what she wants. Her story is constantly evolving.’
The source added: ‘She had the chance to share this during the lengthy custody trial, which resulted in the judge granting 50-50 custody to Pitt following in-depth observations and analysis by doctors, therapists, and other experts.
‘Her and her team go back to the same thing month after month with new and false information.’
