Brad Pitt Accused of “Looting” Château Miraval Owned with Angelina Jolie
Lawyers who are suing Brad Pitt have claimed that the actor “looted” the Provence vineyard, which he co-owned with ex-wife Angelina Jolie. They stated that Pitt spent millions of dollars on swimming pool renovations and a recording studio.
A company Nouvel through which Jolie previously owned a share in the property, said in a filing to Californian court that Pitt and his partners owed more than $350 million. The Hollywood couple filed for divorce in 2016 when Jolie accused Pitt of a drunken attack on her and their children during a private flight to the US. And these allegations stating that Pitt acted like a “petulant child” while engaging in a “blatant money grab” escalate the bitter legal feud between the actors.
Pitt has rejected the assault allegations and blamed Jolie for attempting to damage his reputation by selling Nouvel, which holds her share of Miraval, for $64 million in 2021 “behind [his] back” to Russian-born billionaire Yuri Shefler’s Stoli Group. In previous filings, Pitt said that they had agreed “that they would sell their interests separately only with the other’s consent.” Jolie denied the claim.
Pitt and Jolie bought the Château Miraval for €25 million in 2008 after the property tour on the French Mediterranean coast. The rosé brand they launched with renowned Rhône winemaker Marc Perrin managed to gain a profit of more than €15 millon in 2022, according to the filings.
Nouvel’s lawyers claimed that Pitt had frozen Shefler’s Stoli out of managing the company when he refused to appoint neutral directors to the company, based in Luxembourg, through which the vineyard runs. Also, Nouvel accuses the actor that since the divorce, he has “masterminded a so-far-successful plan to seize de facto control of Château Miraval.”
People briefed on Pitt’s strategy called the claims “absurd” and said the investments into the property had been “to the benefit of the business,” and the fact that Miraval’s rosé had recently been ranked the best in Provence by Le Figaro magazine proves it.
Pitt’s lawyers had previously blamed Shefler and Stoli for attempting a “hostile takeover” of the vineyard. Pitt claims that he only “nominally” transferred 10 percent to Jolie in 2013, and he still owns 60 percent of the estate. Nouvel’s legal team said Jolie had tried to sell her Miraval’s share to Pitt. As he made the deal contingent on her signing a non-disparagement agreement, she left.
They further alleged that “millions were wasted by Pitt 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”. And they added that Pitt spent “nearly a million euros a year constantly rebuilding stone walls using stone masons from Croatia,” and close to €3million on unspecified expenses such as “garment work.”
Shefler’s company, in filing, accused Pitt’s team of launching a “xenophobic, untrue smear campaign worthy of Putin himself” against the Russian-born entrepreneur, who they said had been forced into exile by his criticism of the Kremlin and had stood up for LGBT+ rights. Pitt’s lawyers had previously alleged that Stoli’s ownership “threatens harm to Miraval’s carefully honed reputation and brand” due to his alleged links to Russian and Saudi Arabian state actors. Along with that, Nouvel claimed Pitt passed on half the value of Miraval’s trademarks to Perrin. And that was done without the permission of Jolie’s former holding company, which is a joint owner. Nouvel stated in court documents, that the trademarks were initially registered ahead of a potential joint venture with luxury goods group LVMH, but no such deal ever went ahead. LVMH purchased a majority stake in Château Minuty in Provence this year after purchasing a controlling interest in another local rosé winery, Château d’Esclans, in 2019.
Jolie claimed that she “did none of the work necessary for Miraval’s success” but instead “stood by as Pitt invested money and sweat equity into the home and business.” In response to this, Nouvel’s lawyers said: “Jolie’s and Pitt’s endorsement is what made the Miraval brand successful — more successful than Famille Perrin’s competing rosés.” They disputed: “Pitt is an actor, not a winemaker. He deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes,” answering to the information that Pitt had been deeply devoted to viticulture.