Angelina Jolie‘s wine biz just filed new court documents in their ongoing battle against her ex-husband Brad Pitt — and the lawyers who wrote this filing deserve a PhD in shade!!
Nouvel is in the middle of a $350 million lawsuit against the Seven actor and some of his business partners regarding allegedly sketchy business practices involving Chateau Miraval. That vineyard, as Perezcious readers will recall, is in the picturesque Provence region of the South of France. It was first purchased by Jolie and Pitt more than a decade ago, and set up to be their wine-making property — dreams that all came tumbling down when the couple infamously divorced.
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Well, now Nouvel is going on the offensive. Like, really offensive.
Nouvel filed new documents related to the lawsuit with a California court late on Friday. In the docs, which have been obtained by multiple outlets since, the company slams Pitt and his partners for “increasingly outrageous actions to retain control” of Miraval from Jolie. But that’s not even the good part. That’s just, like, garden variety (er, vineyard variety) legal wrangling. The good s**t comes next!
Nouvel’s lawyers also openly accused Pitt of being, well, a money pit when it came to the vineyard venture. They claim the 59-year-old actor “looted” the wine outpost by spending millions of dollars on vanity projects including swimming pool renovations, a recording studio restoration, and more:
“Pitt wasted the company’s assets, spending millions on vanity projects, including more than $1 million on swimming pool renovations, building and rebuilding a staircase four times, and spending millions to restore a recording studio.”
This man supposedly rebuilt a staircase FOUR TIMES?!?! How bad was it after the first three??
The financial mismanagement supposedly really escalated a few years ago after Jolie sold the biz to Stoli Group. That Russian firm, founded by Yuri Shefler, bought out Jolie’s interest in Chateau Miraval back in 2021. But according to Nouvel’s newly-filed court claims, Pitt wasn’t down with the sale.
The lawyers called Pitt “a petulant child” in these new docs:
“Incensed that Jolie sold Nouvel to Stoli rather than him, Pitt has acted like a petulant child, refusing to treat Nouvel as an equal partner in the business.”
Yikes!
And they openly criticize the Ad Astra actor for what they believe was too much of a focus on his Hollywood work and not nearly enough attention paid to the wine world:
“During the years that he allegedly ‘built’ the business, he filmed and appeared in dozens of movies, not to mention making countless promotional appearances, jetting-setting [sic] around the world for movie premieres, and attending Hollywood parties.”
Now, that part matters — at least as far as Pitt’s public persona and reputation is concerned — because the actor has talked a BIG game about becoming a legit winemaker.
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Back in 2014, Pitt famously spoke to Wine Spectator for a piece about Chateau Miraval. In that interview, the Oklahoma-born star boldly asserted “I’m a farmer now”:
“I love learning about the land and which field is most suitable for which grape, the drama of September and October: Are we picking today? Where are the sugar levels? How is the acidity? Is it going to rain? It’s been a schooling for me. … I enjoy cleaning the forest and walking the land.”
Yeahhh, well, Nouvel now pretty much says that was all bulls**t!
In their Friday afternoon filing, Jolie’s company pushed back on the idea of Pitt’s almost-decade-old claims about being a wine expert. Instead, Nouvel’s attorneys claim, the A-lister was full of crap:
“While he no doubt visited the vineyards to admire the work of the French laborers who actually made the business successful, Pitt is no vigneron.”
And to wrap it all up, they offered this money quote as a closer:
“Pitt is an actor, not a winemaker. He deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes.”
OUCH!
Per the Financial Times, Pitt’s lawyers declined to comment; later, the Sunday Times noted a rep for the Oscar-winning actor “vehemently denied the allegations.”
And so the heavyweight legal bout will no doubt keep going, y’all. Still, this round of court filing shade was definitely worth the proverbial price of admission! DAMN! Reactions??
[Image via WENN/Avalon]
