Brad Pitt has secured a procedural legal victory in his long-running winery dispute with ex-wife Angelina Jolie. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered Jolie to turn over previously withheld, unredacted communications related to their legal battle over Chateau Miraval.According to court documents, the ruling was issued on Wednesday, December 17—just a day before Pitt’s 62nd birthday. The judge granted Pitt’s motion to compel discovery, directing Jolie, 50, to produce full versions of certain non-attorney communications that were earlier shielded under claims of privilege.“The Court orders Jolie to produce in full, within 45 days of this Order, unredacted versions of the communications exchanged between non-attorneys in the 22 documents identified on Jolie’s February 14, 2025 privilege log with the Document ID numbers set forth in the Appendix to this Order,” the court document stated.
Pitt’s team says emails could reveal ‘true intentions’
Reacting to the ruling, a source told People that Pitt’s legal team believes the emails could strengthen his case.“The emails would prove Jolie has been disingenuous since the start regarding her true intentions about selling her share of the business to Stoli,” the source claimed.Pitt had filed the lawsuit in 2022, alleging that Jolie sold her stake in Chateau Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, the wine division of the Stoli Group, despite an agreement that neither party would sell without the other’s consent.
Jolie denies agreement, calls lawsuit ‘vindictive’
Jolie has denied the existence of any such agreement and responded with a countersuit, accusing Pitt of “waging a vindictive war against” her following their separation.Her legal team has also argued that Pitt refused to buy her out of the winery because she declined to sign a non-disclosure agreement that was allegedly “designed to force her silence about his abuse and cover-up.” The claim refers to a 2016 private jet flight during which Pitt was accused of verbal and physical abuse toward his family. Pitt was not charged after investigations, and Jolie declined to press charges at the time.
$35 million damages claim and NDA dispute
More recently, court filings revealed that Pitt is seeking $35 million in damages, linked to Jolie’s 2021 sale of her stake in the winery.On October 29, Pitt’s legal team submitted communications exchanged with Jolie’s representatives as evidence. One exhibit included a November 2023 email from Jolie’s lawyers responding to Pitt’s lawsuit.“The burdensome nature of any production is a matter of Mr. Pitt’s own creation—he is suing Ms. Jolie for $35 million in damages,” her lawyers wrote. “As a result, he has to incur the expense of producing the documents that will show (or not show) those damages.”An October 2023 email from Jolie’s team also stated that Pitt was “seeking ongoing damages for alleged harm to Miraval’s ongoing operations.”They further pointed to “Pitt’s continuing refusals to produce documents relating to the reasons why he needed his four-year NDA covering his personal misconduct,” arguing that those communications were central “to the heart of our case and must be produced.” Pitt and Jolie, who share six children—Maddox, 24; Pax, 22; Zahara, 20; Shiloh, 19; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17—finalised their divorce in December 2024. Jolie had initially filed for divorce in September 2016, bringing one of Hollywood’s most closely watched legal sagas closer to its end, even as their winery dispute continues. Go to Source
