As someone who has followed, for years, all of the ins and outs of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s lawsuits and legal issues, it’s stunning to me that the American courts have not thrown Pitt out on his ass. The big issue between Pitt and Jolie right now is his lawsuit against her and her countersuit, all about the sale of Nouvel, her half of the Chateau Miraval. He sued her because he claimed they had a secret, unwritten agreement that she would only sell Nouvel to him, and that he was blindsided when she sold Nouvel to Tenute del Mondo. Jolie’s countersuit is that Pitt has zero evidence of any of his claims, and that there’s actually a lengthy paper trail that she tried to sell Nouvel to him but he tried to make the sale contingent on Jolie signing an NDA about his parental and spousal abuse. Pitt, in turn, has claimed that the NDA he wanted (I thought he was blind-sided, remember?) was merely boilerplate and part of a business deal. Well, it’s long been rumored that Pitt attached a number to Angelina’s silence, and surprise, Angelina has receipts on that too:
Angelina Jolie is accusing Brad Pitt of trying to have her sign an $8.5 million non-disclosure agreement related to her allegations of abuse against her ex. In court documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday, July 25 and obtained by PEOPLE, lawyers for Jolie, 49, argued in support of a recent motion to compel Pitt, 60, to disclose personal communications, which Pitt’s lawyers described as “wide-ranging and intrusive” in a separate filing.
In 2022, Pitt sued Jolie for selling her stake in Château Miraval, the winery they co-owned, alleging she violated a prior agreement that neither would do so unless the other person approved. The pair have also engaged in a separate legal battle related to the custody of their children, half of whom have now reached legal age: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
In the new court documents, Jolie’s attorneys said that Jolie “was not acting with malice and the intent to hurt Pitt in response to any custody ruling” when she sold her share of Miraval in 2021.
“Instead, it was Pitt who refused to buy her interest unless he received his newly expanded NDA, enforceable by an $8.5 million holdback specifically designed to force her silence about his abuse and cover-up,” the court documents read. PEOPLE has reached out to Jolie and Pitt’s representatives..
Jolie’s attorneys additionally said, “While Pitt advances what is effectively an outdated privacy-of-domestic-violence argument to shield his abuse, his argument is not the law, at least not in this century, and he cites no authority that would give him such unwarranted protections,” the court documents read. “In any event, he waived any privacy protections when he sued Jolie.”
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE on July 15, Pitt’s attorneys asked for Jolie’s motion to be denied. They alleged that Jolie wanted him to produce communications “about such sensitive issues as therapy he voluntarily undertook” in the wake of the 2016 family plane ride that led to their divorce, even after Pitt volunteered to produce “documents sufficient to show everything that occurred on the flight.”
Jolie’s attorneys noted in the July 25 court documents that Pitt “contends that he did not use the NDA to attempt to cover up any abuse,” and argued that the actor should be compelled to continue producing documents related to her allegations during discovery in their legal battle.
“Jolie has no desire to litigate these issues and for years never publicly discussed any of it. Rather than appreciate her discretion, Pitt sought to contractually mandate and enforce it,” the documents read. “Because she refused, he seeks to punish her, demanding $67 million plus punitive damages. In so doing, Pitt placed his conduct squarely at issue. While Jolie sincerely wishes Pitt would end this litigation and finally put their family on a clear path toward healing, that cannot happen while Pitt relentlessly pursues her.”
“Rather than appreciate her discretion, Pitt sought to contractually mandate and enforce it.” Exactly. While some of Angelina’s side was bound to come out at some point, she really was being discreet for years, all while Pitt publicly maligned her, smeared her and tried to bribe a judge into giving him custody of the children he abused. When Pitt sued her over the sale of Nouvel, all bets were off. Her countersuit was the biggest FAFO moment of this whole long-running saga. Angelina has ample documentation to back up her side. Brad’s documentation will prove Angelina’s side too, which is why he’s in court, trying to argue that HIS conduct has nothing to do with why he wanted to force Angelina to sign an NDA with a seven-figure penalty (which he would hold back??).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.