Brad Pitt has accused ex-wife Angelina Jolie of damaging the reputation of his wine business. They previously owned the Miraval brand together, but the actress later sold half of her share to a "stranger.
Back in 2008 at the time, the couple bought a majority stake in the vineyard and home of Chateau Miraval in the south of France, where they later married in 2014 and spent several family holidays throughout their relationship.
In Pitt's latest lawsuit in his ongoing battle with Jolie over the sale of Miraval, the 58-year-old actor alleges that the ex-wife deliberately sought to harm him by selling her stake in the wine company.
Brad says they previously agreed never to sell shares in the family business without each other's consent. Pitt's legal team writes in documents filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that Miraval became "Pitt's passion project, which has grown into a multi-million dollar global business and one of the world's most respected rosé producers "because of his work.
The actor accuses Jolie that she " contributed nothing to the success of the brand ." In the lawsuit, Pitt's lawyers allege that Jolie planned to sell her stake in October to Tenute del Mondo, which seeks control of Miraval and is indirectly owned and controlled by Yuri Shefler, the Russian billionaire who controls the Stoli Group.
"Jolie made the alleged sale in secret, deliberately keeping Pitt in the dark and knowingly violating Brad's contractual rights," Pitt's team said in a statement.
Pitt's lawsuit alleges that he has a so-called right of first refusal, which gives him the opportunity to choose with whom he will co-own the company in the future. And the sale of the share violated this right. Pitt's team alleges that Schefler has launched a hostile takeover of Miraval and is trying to obtain " private information for the benefit of his rival enterprise.