Simran Joshi
The Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are now in an increasingly contentious legal battle where Brad Pitt has accused Angelina of hiding crucial evidence involving the sale of their jointly owned French winery, Château Miraval.
Court documents recently surfaced reveal Brad claims Angelina withheld hundreds of emails and misused attorney-client privilege to suppress details on the sale, which he maintains was done without his consent.
It surrounds the controversial sale of Angelina’s stake in the $500 million estate to a Russian billionaire, creating a huge legal battle between the two former spouses.
Brad Pitt Accuses Angelina Jolie of Withholding emails in Winery Sale Row
Brad argues Angelina suppressed hundreds of emails pertaining to the highly debated Chateau Miraval sale.
These communications, according to Brad, occurred between her and her inner circle before the actual sale happened.
His legal team brought out 126 communications that it claims do not apply to attorney-client privilege.
It reportedly consisted of emails exchanged with her business manager, consultants, and personal assistants and not attorneys. The legal team for Brad further claims this suppression is denying transparency in the very much debated court procedures.
According to the documents, Angelina had made very few records following an alleged over-one-year delay in discovery. Brad’s lawyers have dubbed her submission “illusory,” lacking important internal discussion on selling the images.
The communications they said Angelina was withholding include discussions with image consultants and wine advisors. “[Angelina] has withheld hundreds of emails she exchanged… asserting attorney-client privilege,” said Brad’s lawyers. “They want the court to make those emails public.”.
Dispute centers on Angelina’s sale of winery stake to Russian billionaire
Angelina said after their divorce that she would like to leave the shared winery business. According to Brad, he proposed to buy her stake for $54.4 million payable over six years.
He alleges that despite ongoing negotiations, Angelina sold her stake to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler. Brad says that sale was done without his knowledge and consent and was against the agreement they had made before. He says she sold it for $64 million and he was surprised with the deal.
Brad has urged the court to void Angelina’s sale based on a breach of mutual agreements. His legal team has accused her of failing to be transparent to cover up information on the transaction.
“Her wildly overbroad assertion of privilege… cannot justify her near-complete cover-up,” according to statements made by Brad’s lawyers.
The fight for Chateau Miraval points to still unsettled tensions from their very public divorce. The couple is continuing to fight the multi-million dollar lawsuit in court.
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