In the protracted, seven-year divorce war between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the “Maleficent” actor has dropped another bombshell.
In new court papers revealed Thursday by the Los Angeles Times, Jolie’s attorneys allege that Pitt physically abused his wife “well before” the family’s infamous September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, when the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star allegedly became violent with her and several of their six children.
That private plane ride has become part of the lore surrounding the stunning collapse of Jolie and Pitt’s Hollywood super-couple marriage. It prompted Jolie to file for divorce in 2016, as well as FBI officials to open an investigation, followed by the couple’s bitter, years-long fight over custody of their six children.
The private plane ride also has become part of the narrative in the couple’s legal battle over Chateau Miraval, the successful winery in the South of France that once served as their family’s retreat from the pressures of Hollywood celebrity. The new court papers were filed by Jolie’s attorneys in connection with the winery dispute, and they add new dimensions to the domestic allegations against Pitt.
In October 2021, Jolie sold her half-stake in the winery to the Tenute del Mondo wine group, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group. Pitt filed a lawsuit the following February, seeking a jury trial to undo the sale, alleging that his ex-wife “secretly” and “vindictively” sold her stake in the winery in order to “inflict harm” on him, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In their motion, Jolie’s lawyers said Pitt could have gone along with an “implied” agreement the couple made in early 2021 for him to buy her shares, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, he pulled out of the agreement “at the last minute” because she wouldn’t sign a sweeping non-disclosure agreement, they said. The attorneys said he wanted a “more onerous NDA” because he was concerned about what she would reveal publicly about the plane ride or about prior instances of alleged domestic violence.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Jolie’s attorney, Paul Murphy, accused Pitt of engaging in “unrelenting efforts to control and financially drain” Jolie, as well as “attempting to hide his history of abuse, control, and coverup.”
In the midst of the ex-couple’s custody dispute in the spring of 2021, Jolie submitted documents, titled “Testimony Regarding Domestic Violence,” that “apparently enraged Pitt” and led to him “stepping back” from the sale, the new court papers said, according to the Los Angeles Times. The documents included emails, summaries of the family’s expected testimony, and other evidence, which “caused Pitt to fear that the information could eventually become public,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Mr. Pitt refused to purchase Ms. Jolie’s interest when she would not be silenced by his NDA,” Murphy said in a statement to the Times.
“By refusing to buy her interest but then suing her, Mr. Pitt put directly at issue why that NDA was so important to him and what he hoped it would bury: his abuse of Ms. Jolie and their family,” Murphy said.
A legal representative and a publicist for Pitt did not respond immediately Thursday to the Times’ requests for comment on the new filing and allegations of prior abuse.
It does not appear that the new motion from Jolie’s attorneys includes details about any physical abuse that occurred before 2016, but the motion does say that the plane ride was the first time that Pitt “turned his physical abuse on the children as well.”
Meanwhile, details about the tumultuous 2016 plane ride have become well known, due to a lawsuit that Jolie filed against the FBI to have her report to the federal law enforcement agency made public.
According to Jolie’s report to the FBI, Pitt was heavily intoxicated on the plane ride, became agitated, yelled at Jolie and grabbed her by the head and shook her. When the children asked Jolie if she was OK, Pitt allegedly responded, “Mommy’s not OK. She’s ruining this family. She’s crazy.” During the confrontation, Pitt also allegedly choked one of the children and struck another in the face, reports said. During the remainder of the flight, Pitt continued to rant, and at one point allegedly poured beer on Jolie and the children as they tried to sleep under blankets.
Pitt was never charged in connection with the incident, either by the U.S. attorney’s office or the L.A. County Department of Child and Family Services. Pitt has denied ever being violent with his family, though he has spoken often in interviews about overcoming problems with alcohol abuse and anger management.
The release of Jolie’s report to the FBI definitely was seen as problematic for the Oscar winning-actor. His popularity with the public and in Hollywood has long rested on his good looks and his charming, affable public persona.
Jolie previously sought to have evidence of Pitt’s alleged domestic violence presented at the custody trial that took place in 2020 and 2021. The couple are parents of Maddox, 22, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15. The trial took place outside of regular court and was presided over by a private judge, John Ouderkirk, who had performed the couple’s intimate 2014 wedding at Chateau Miraval.
Jolie said that several of her older children also wanted to testify. But Ouderkirk reportedly wouldn’t let the children testify, possibly because he believed that testimony from a former nanny, a child psychologist and others who had been around the family was sufficient to determine what was in the best interests of the children, legal experts said at the time.
After Ouderkirk issued a tentative ruling, granting the couple joint custody, Jolie successfully filed an appeal with California’s Second District Court of Appeal, claiming that the judge denied her a fair trial. One of Jolie’s complaints in her appellate filing is that Ouderkirk wouldn’t let her teen-age children testify. The appeals court overturned Ouderkirk’s tentative ruling and Jolie retained full-time custody, with Pitt reportedly granted visitation rights.
With three of their children already reaching adulthood and left for college, and the others in their teens, it appears that Pitt has let go of contesting Jolie on the custody issue. There also are reports that the three oldest children, who were first adopted by Jolie, may be estranged from their father, or that they have at least distanced themselves from him.
The “Inglorious Basterds” star now seems focused on Chateau Miraval, saying in past filings that he can no longer enjoy his private residence in France, as it is now co-owned by strangers, the Los Angeles Times said. He’s also said that his investment in the business has “exceeded Jolie’s by nearly $50 million.”