The news of the separation of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took the world by storm. All of a sudden, one of the most famous and most influential Hollywood couples was no longer a thing and fans wondered what led to the break up of what seemed to be a perfect relationship.
Their lengthy custody battle made their divorce one of the nastiest ones the public has ever seen taking place between celebrities.
When Jolie filed for divorce, she stated that she questioned her husband’s parenting method claiming Pitt allegedly attacked Maddox during a fight. This triggered an investigation in which the Los Angeles County Department of Children got involved but no charges were pressed.
Now, years after their separation, reports are that a new court filing has alleged that Brad Pitt’s “physical abuse” against his ex-wife began before the now infamous 2016 plane incident.
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Things turned even more heated between the exes over the sale of a French winery they bought while still together.
In 2022, Pitt sued his former spouse’s company Nouvel for selling her half of the winery claiming the two had an agreement not to sell their part without the approval of the other and her act of selling her part “jeopardize[d] the reputation of the business that Pitt so carefully built.”
On January 21, 2021, Jolie emailed her ex-husband, and that email became public. In it, she states that she writes “with a heavy heart,” informing Pitt of her decision to sell Miraval, “a business that is centered around alcohol.” Many believe this is a reference to the above mentioned plane incident during which Pitt allegedly chocked Maddox and then poured alcohol on her and the children.
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The Maleficent star further wrote, “Even now impossible to write this without crying.
“Above all, it is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother’s memory. A place…where I thought I would grow old…. But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family.
“Miraval for me died September 2016,” she continued, “and everything I have seen in the years since has sadly confirmed that.”
It was reported at the time that Pitt offered to buy her part but the business deal failed as a result of their ongoing divorce proceedings.
Jolie struck back, submitting sealed documents which involved information regarding the plane incident, after which Pitt asked Jolie to sign an NDA which prohibited her from “discussing outside of court any of Pitt’s personal conduct toward her or the family” for the sale of the property.
She dubbed the request an “unconscionable gag order.”
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News reports suggest that fresh papers from Jolie’s legal team were submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, April 4, which imply that the physical abuse by Pitt started before the plane incident.
“While Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him,” a copy of the motion obtained by CNN read.
The papers don’t provide further details but intent to “prove through through testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence why Pitt was so concerned about his own misconduct that he blew up his own deal to purchase Jolie’s interest in Miraval because she refused to agree to his new, expansive NDA.”
Pitt hasn’t spoken of Jolie’s action, but a source close to him was reported to have said, “This is a pattern of behavior – whenever there is a decision that goes against the other side they consistently choose to introduce misleading, inaccurate and/or irrelevant information as a distraction.
“There was a lengthy custody trial that involved the entire history of their relationship and a judge who heard all the evidence still granted him 50/50 custody.”