Lawyers for a company founded by Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Angelina Jolie filed court papers Monday mocking Pitt for the nature of his involvement in a French wine business and demanding $350 million.
Attorneys for a holding company Jolie set up to carry her shares in Chateau Miraval filed the cross-complaint as the former couple continue their legal battle over the winery. The pair originally purchased the French vineyard in 2011 while they were still married, and it’s been a topic of bitter contention since their divorce, per Page Six.
“Pitt is an actor, not a winemaker,” the attorneys for Jolie’s company Nouvel wrote in the new filing. “He deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes.”
“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,” it goes on.
The attorneys claim that Pitt spent “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.”
“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,” the document says.
Nouvel’s attorneys claim Pitt’s business owes the company $350 million, the outlet noted. The group said, “Pitt masterminded a so-far-successful plan to seize de facto control of Château Miraval, despite lacking a controlling ownership interest. He has frozen Nouvel out of Château Miraval and treats it as his personal fiefdom.”
“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,” the filing says, while accusing Pitt of “looting” and “stripping” the business.
Meanwhile, the “Fight Club” star views his association with Miraval differently.
“I’m a farmer now,” Pitt told Wine Spectator in 2014. “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.”