Brad Pitt called Angelina Jolie’s latest request for evidence in the winery case “intrusive”.
Angelina Jolie’s attorney says the actress wants her ex, Brad Pitt, to “end the fighting” by dropping his lawsuit concerning their winery.
Pitt sued Jolie after she sold her half of Château Miraval for $67 million in October 2021, arguing that the sale violated a verbal agreement they had. Jolie’s side has countered, saying she didn’t let him buy her out because she didn’t want to sign his NDA as part of the deal.
In recent developments, Jolie has asked Pitt to disclose third-party communications following the 2016 plane ride incident that led to their divorce. Pitt’s lawyers have called her request “intrusive” and a “sensationalist fishing expedition,” urging the judge to deny it.
Jolie’s lawyer Paul Murphy said Pitt, in his past offer to buy Jolie’s stake in the winery, “tried to punish and control Angelina by demanding a newly expanded NDA to cover his personal misconduct and abuse.” Murphy added, “We are not at all surprised Mr. Pitt is afraid to turn over the documents demonstrating these facts.”
“While Angelina again asks Mr. Pitt to end the fighting and finally put their family on a clear path toward healing, unless Mr. Pitt withdraws his lawsuit, Angelina has no choice but to obtain the evidence necessary to prove his allegations wrong,” added Murphy.
A representative for Pitt declined to comment.
According to Pitt’s lawyers, the third-party communications Jolie’s team is requesting deal with “sensitive issues,” including “therapy he voluntarily undertook after the flight incident in an effort to better himself,” and feature some of “his most trusted advisors.” They claim Jolie “wants them anyway as part of her efforts to turn this business dispute into a re-litigation of the former couple’s divorce case.”
A source close to Pitt states that his recent filing speaks for itself.
In May, a judge ruled that Jolie must produce eight years’ worth of NDAs she has made. Pitt’s side hopes this will show that NDAs are a standard business practice by having her disclose her history of such agreements.
In May, Murphy stated they are “more than happy to” turn over the “common NDAs” since they “are simply not comparable to Mr. Pitt’s last-second demand to try and cover up his personal misconduct.”
He added that the ruling “opens the door to discovery on all issues related to Pitt’s abuse,” saying, “we welcome that transparency in all parties’ discovery responses.”
A source close to Pitt, however, said the ruling was a “significant blow to the credibility” of Jolie’s claims and a “strong statement challenging them to match their rhetoric with actual facts, which they consistently have been unable to do.”