Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s legal feud has intensified. New court filings allege that Pitt physically abused Jolie before their separation. The allegations predate the infamous 2016 plane incident that pushed Jolie to file for divorce.
In the continuing legal dispute between the former couple regarding their French winery Château Miraval, the actress’s legal team submitted a motion acquired by People on April 4. They aim to uncover communications allegedly showing Pitt’s refusal to let Jolie sell her winery share to him without agreeing to a stricter NDA.
“Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip,” Jolie’s attorneys assert. “[The] flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him.”
Jolie’s Legal Team Claim the Lawsuit Could Have Been Avoided
According to Jolie’s team, the winery lawsuit could have been avoided if Pitt had bought her share. Jolie’s lawyers state Pitt declined unless it included an NDA. They assert this suggests he worried private documents from their custody battle would be disclosed without the NDA.
“Jolie’s sealed filing caused Pitt to fear that the information could eventually become public,” her legal team wrote. The lawyers go on to add that Pitt wanted Jolie to “contractually bind herself to that silence” over her claims of his “personal misconduct, whether related to Miraval or not.”
A June 2023 filing from Pitt’s legal team states that Jolie proposed a broader non-disparagement clause. Meanwhile, Pitt’s team offered a narrower one to safeguard the business.
“The clause also made clear that there would be no limitation on Jolie’s ability to speak in connection with Pitt and Jolie’s divorce or custody proceedings,” Pitt’s lawyers wrote. “It specifically provided: This commitment shall however not limit the ability, for any Party, to make any claims, filings or testimony in any legal proceedings.”
Angelina Jolie Didn’t Press Charges on Brad Pitt After the Alleged Plane Incident
“Mr. Pitt refused to purchase Ms. Jolie’s interest. [Because] she would not be silenced by his NDA,” Jolie’s attorney Paul Murphy explained in a statement. “By refusing to buy her interest but then suing her, Mr. Pitt put directly at issue why that NDA was so important to him. He hoped it would bury his abuse of Ms. Jolie and their family. After eight months of delays, this motion asks the Court to force Mr. Pitt to finally produce that evidence.”
In the most recent submission, Jolie’s legal team wrote that she “never pressed charges as she believed the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility. [She wanted him to] help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused.”
A judge declared Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie legally declared single in 2019. The former couple have six children: Maddox (22), Pax (20), Zahara (19), Shiloh (17), and twins Vivienne and Knox (15).