Brad Pitt: Angelina Jolie 'sought to inflict harm' in dispute

The latest development in Brad Pitt's ongoing lawsuits against Angelina Jolie over their French winery, Château Miraval, finds the divorced film stars embroiled in what Pitt calls Jolie's "secret" sale of her share to a hostile party.

In court documents filed Friday at Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by People magazine, Academy Award winner Pitt, 58, alleges fellow Oscar winner Jolie, 47, "sought to inflict harm on" him by selling her stake to Tenute del Mondo, a company "indirectly owned and controlled by Yuri Shefler, the Russian billionaire who controls the Stoli Group."

The new documents in the suit that Pitt had filed in February say Jolie "pursued and then consummated the purported sale in secret, purposely keeping Pitt in the dark, and knowingly violating Pitt's contractual rights." Jolie sold her 50% share of Quimicum, the Luxembourg-registered holding company that owns Miraval, in October. Pitt had filed a separate Miraval suit against Jolie in Luxembourg in September. 

Shefler, according to the new filing, seeks a hostile takeover of Miraval, an acclaimed winery in Correns, Provence, where Pitt and Jolie had married and that also includes a residence and a legendary music studio, set to reopen this summer. Pink Floyd made "The Wall" and musicians including AC/DC, Elton John, Queen and Sting have recorded there.

Using "cutthroat business tactics and dubious professional associations," Shefler plans to use "confidential and proprietary information for the benefit of his competing enterprise," the filing alleges, adding that, "Jolie has sought to force Pitt into partnership with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions."

"Bullet Train" star Pitt requests a jury trial. The suit charges breach of implied-in-fact contract; breach of quasi-contract, pleaded in the alternative; breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; abuse of rights under Article 6-1 of the Luxembourg Civil Code; tortious interference with contractual relations; tortious interference with prospective business relations; and constructive trust, People said.

Representatives for Pitt and Jolie did not respond to Newsday requests for comment.

The former couple purchased Miraval, run in partnership with winemaker Marc Perrin and family, in 2008. Pitt's company Mondo Bongo initially owned 60% of Quimicum while Jolie's company Nouvel had 40%. Jolie's share went to 50% in 2013 when Pitt sold her the differential for the symbolic price of 1 euro.

The couple began a relationship while filming "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (2005) and had been together for nearly a decade when they married in August 2014. Jolie filed for divorce on Sept. 19, 2016, citing irreconcilable differences; it was finalized in April 2019. Custody issues remain over the couple's minor children. In addition to adult sons Maddox, 20, and Pax, 18, Jolie and Pitt are the parents of daughters Zahara, 17, and Shiloh, 16; and brother-and-sister twins Knox and Vivienne, 13.