Brad Pitt has sued ex-wife Angelina Jolie, claiming she deliberately hid from him her intention to sell her share of Château Miraval vineyards to a Russian oligarch. In new court documents, the actor claims that amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the association poses an “existential threat to the business” because of the new co-owner’s ties to Russia, writes People magazine, citing News.ro. .

Legal documents obtained by People say Jolie sold her stake in Tenute del Mondo, the parent company of spirits maker Stoli Group, which is “controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Scheffler.”

Pitt reportedly learned of Jolie’s sale from a press release.

The lawsuit alleges that the proposed sale was “illegal” because it violated a “contractual agreement” between Jolie and Pitt to “keep Miraval together and not sell their assets separately without each other’s consent.”

A source close to Jolie told People magazine: “The fact that Mr. Pitt is saying he is suing his ex-wife to protect his family is hard to understand because he knows very well that the children didn’t feel like coming home in France. for almost seven years due to the events that forced Ms. Jolie to file for divorce.”

In 2008, Brad Pitt, 59, and Angelina Jolie, 47, bought a majority stake in Château Miraval SA, a French property that includes a house and vineyard in the south of France, the same place the couple married in 2014.

“As evidenced by their conduct and statements to each other over time, Pitt and Jolie agreed that they would own Miraval together and, if the time came, would sell their assets separately only with each other’s consent,” the complaint states. . “But in the summer of 2021, amid a heated child custody dispute with Pitt, Jolie ended those discussions and secretly decided that she would sell her 50% stake in the family home and business,” the legal filing said.

In September 2022, Jolie’s former company denied the allegations, filing its own lawsuit against her ex-husband over the wine business.

Jolie’s former company, Nouvel, is seeking more than $250 million in damages, accusing Pitt of “waging a vindictive war” against her after she filed for divorce in 2016.

The lawsuit alleged that Pitt “wasted assets by spending millions on projects, including more than $1 million to renovate a swimming pool and other funds to restore a recording studio.”

Tom Bovet, an American businessman who owned the property in 1992, became one of the largest producers of organic wine in France.

The stars of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith continued the tradition by launching Miraval Wines in 2013. The first 6,000 bottles of rosé wine they produced sold out within five hours.