The news of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s separation took the world by storm. Suddenly, one of Hollywood’s most famous and influential couples was no longer together, and fans wondered what led to the breakup of what seemed to be a perfect relationship.
Their lengthy custody battle made their divorce one of the nastiest public celebrity separations ever seen.
When Jolie filed for divorce, she questioned her husband’s parenting methods, claiming Pitt allegedly attacked Maddox during a fight. This triggered an investigation involving the Los Angeles County Department of Children, but no charges were pressed.
Years after their separation, reports allege that Brad Pitt’s “physical abuse” against his ex-wife began before the infamous 2016 plane incident. 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. He argued that 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 references the plane incident during which Pitt allegedly choked Maddox and then poured alcohol on her and the children.
The Maleficent star further wrote, “Even now it is 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 due to their ongoing divorce proceedings. Jolie struck back, submitting sealed documents involving information regarding the plane incident, after which Pitt asked Jolie to sign an NDA prohibiting 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.”
News reports suggest that fresh papers from Jolie’s legal team were submitted to Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, April 4, implying 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 intend to “prove 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 actions, 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.”