Brad Pitt is suing ex-wife Angelina Jolie, accusing her of illegally selling her share of their French estate, Château Miraval.
Pitt claims the couple had agreed that neither would sell their share of the Château — where they married in 2014 — and its profitable vineyard without approval from the other party. The 58-year-old claims Jolie sold her share to Russian businessman Yuri Shefler without his permission.
Court Documents Obtained Reveal Jolie Sold Share Without Permission
The couple bought the 35-room mansion and surrounding estate in 2008 for $28.4 million, with the intent to bring up their six children there and build a family wine business. The estate is located in the village of Correns in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. The couple also married at the venue in 2014, splitting in 2019.
The court documents, which were 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.”
Vineyard Passion Project For Pitt
Pitt developed the vineyard into a multimillion-dollar business and one of the world’s top producers in the world of rosé wine.
But the court papers reveal 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 asserts.
“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 goes on to reveal.
“Nevertheless,” Jolie admitted she “no longer maintains any ownership position in an alcohol-based business given her personal objections.” Pitt soon began negotiations to buy out Jolie’s share, but in October 2021, her 50% stake in the estate was sold to the wine division of the Stoli Group, Tenute del Mondo, which is controlled by Russian businessman Yuri Shefler.
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.”
The sale was a shock to the Moneyball actor, who now claims he is deprived of using the estate as his private home and can no longer oversee the company that he put his time and money into.
