Los Angeles United States. Brad Pitt has accused Angelina Jolie of wanting to “inflict harm” on him by selling her stake in her French vineyard to a Russian oligarch with “poisonous associations and intentions.”
Source: AFP
The accusations, made in new court documents filed as part of Pitt’s lawsuit against Jolie over the sale of Chateau Miraval, are the latest thorny event in the former Hollywood power couple’s bitter legal battle that began their divorce in 2016. .
In October, Jolie sold her stake in the vineyard in southern France where the couple married, to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler’s Group Stoli drinks conglomerate.
Pitt sued in February, saying the couple had agreed not to sell their shares without each other’s consent.
In an addendum to the lawsuit, seen by AFP, Pitt’s lawyers argue that “Jolie was seeking to inflict harm on Pitt” with the sale, and describe Shefler as “a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions.”
The document a Los Angeles court received on Friday alleges that Shefler “has personal and professional relationships with people in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.”
“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the Chateau Miraval’s insurer has sought assurances that Shefler is not aligned with Putin and that his affiliation with [el grupo] Stoli will not generate commercial risk,” he says.
Shefler, whose Stoli Group is based in Latvia, has been critical of Putin.
“[Soy] Russian exile since 2002 due to my opposition to Putin,” the millionaire said in a statement in March 2022. The businessman also renamed his brand “in solidarity with Ukraine.”
“Despite Shefler’s desperate attempt to separate his image from the Putin regime, the Stoli brand is currently a huge international liability,” Pitt’s latest court arguments state.
“Stoli vodka is synonymous with Russia,” he adds.
The complaint also lists Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of Shefler’s alleged “disreputable network of professional associates,” which “threatens lasting damage to Miraval’s reputation.”
The Stoli Group did not immediately reply to AFP.
A source following the case told AFP that Jolie had decided to sell her share of the property because neither she nor her children “had been able to return” to the Chateau Miraval, and that the actress made several offers to her ex-husband before closing. the business with Shefler.
According to the source, Pitt’s lawsuit “is part of a false narrative” and “the truth has not yet come to light.”
Pitt and Jolie became a couple after playing assassins in the 2005 film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” At that time Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston.
Once one of the most powerful couples in the city of tinsel, they maintain a bitter legal battle for the custody of their six children, three biological and three adopted.
