Brad Pitt’s legal battle over the French winery he once shared with ex Angelina Jolie now has a new layer.
On May 13, Tenute del Mondo, the company to which Jolie, 48, sold her Nouvel company and shares, filed a counterclaim against Pitt, 60, and his Mondo Bongo company for 20 million euros in damages related to Pitt’s control of the Château Miraval winery in Correns. , France.
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Tenute claimed that Pitt caused funds and assets from Château Miraval to be “spent on his personal expenses and diverted to his other business ventures instead of being paid out as dividends and loan repayments.”
The documents allege that Pitt “caused millions of his funds to be spent on projects that benefited him personally, including more than $1 million to renovate a swimming pool for his sole use.”
The counterclaim further alleges that Pitt diverted the Château Miraval assets to multiple side businesses “by financing them with Château Miraval money and/or allowing them to use the Château Miraval image, premises and assets for zero or below-market compensation.”
Pitt’s representative did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A source familiar with the litigation tells PEOPLE that the allegation that Pitt stole from the winery is “absurd,” adding that the actor “built Miraval, and his association with it is a key reason for its success.” A source says: “It is Stoli who is trying to take what he did not build and improperly threaten Mr. Pitt’s well-earned fame.”
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Brad Pitt June 7, 2023
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“Pitt and Mondo Bongo have turned Château Miraval into their personal piggy bank,” the counterclaim claims. “They entered into a series of transactions using Château Miraval assets that deprived the Tenuta of the profits and loan repayments to which it is entitled.”
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The legal dispute between Pitt’s company and Tenute stems from an initial lawsuit filed by Pitt in 2022 alleging that Jolie’s sale of her stake in the winery to Tenute and its parent company, the Stoli Group, in 2021 violated an agreement they had made to do not sell without permission of another.
Jolie’s legal team said she tried to sell her stake to Pitt, but he insisted she sign an extensive NDA as part of the deal, which she refused to do. His side said it was a standard business NDA, and Jolie’s sale to the Stoli Group “jeopardizes the reputation of the business that Pitt has so carefully built.”
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Tenute’s new counterclaim alleges that Pitt and his company “refuse to allow Jolie, Nouvel and, now, Tenute to participate in Château Miraval operations” and have failed to provide those groups with information about the winery’s operations and finances.
Tenute is demanding a jury trial for all damages and claims Pitt and Mondo Bongo never repaid the €20 million in loans Jolie originally made to support the winery.
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Source: HIS Education