Brad Pitt is seeking an exit from a countersuit filed against him by a company founded by Angelina Jolie, which is seeking $250 million by alleging the actor was behind an effort to take control of Chateau Miraval, the 1,300-acre country estate the former couple bought in 2008 and where they married in 2014.
Nouvel LLC brought the countersuit on Sept. 6 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging claims including tortious interference with contractual relations and prospective economic advantage. The countersuit also seeks punitive damages.
On Thursday, attorneys for Pitt, his holding company Mondo Bongo LLC and his California-based business manager, Warren Grant, filed two motions asking that the trio be dismissed as defendants in the countersuit, which also names other parties.
“Stripped of its inflammatory rhetoric, the (countersuit) reveals nothing more than a corporate dispute between shareholders of a foreign company, exacerbated by Jolie’s putative sale to Stoli, a Russia-affiliated spirits conglomerate,” Pitt’s lawyers state in their court papers.
Nouvel has filed five claims against Pitt and Mondo Bongo, two under Luxembourg law and three under California law.
“Each claim fails as a matter of law,” Pitt’s lawyers state in their court papers.
In addition, Pitt’s lawyers contend the countersuit does not contain any specific allegations concerning Grant prior to 2021.
“Nevertheless, Nouvel seeks to hold Grant liable for alleged misconduct dating back to 2016, when Jolie filed for divorce, and, it is alleged, Pitt supposedly set out to devalue Jolie’s investment in Chateau Miraval,” Pitt’s lawyers state in their court papers.
Hearings on the dismissal motions are scheduled in August before Judge Lia Martin.
Pitt started the litigation by suing Jolie, Nouvel and others a year ago Friday. The 59-year-old “Bullet Train” actor alleges the 47-year-old “Girl, Interrupted” actress sold Nouvel and her stake in Chateau Miraval in October 2021 to the Stoli Group, owned by Russian businessman Yuri Shefler, without Pitt’s permission, despite a previous agreement that they would never sell their respective interests in Miraval without the other’s consent. Jolie in October filed a separate countersuit against Pitt.
“Ever since his former wife, Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce from him in 2016, Brad Pitt has been waging a vindictive war against her and Nouvel, her former investment company,” the Nouvel countersuit states.
Nouvel is taking legal action “to seek redress for the illegal and malicious actions of Pitt and his allies to injure Nouvel by devaluing its investments and depriving it of its proper role in the management of Chateau Miraval, the world-famous producer of rose wine,” the Nouvel countersuit states.
After “quietly hijacking the highly profitable Chateau Miraval, Pitt wasted its assets, spending millions on vanity projects, including more than $1 million on swimming pool renovations and other funds restoring a recording studio,” the Nouvel countersuit states.
“Worse yet, Pitt has attempted to turn over 50% of the ownership of Chateau Miraval’s most valuable assets, the Miraval trademarks, to his good friend Marc Perrin — for free,” according to the Nouvel countersuit.
In an effort to “cover up his illegal and reprehensible conduct, Pitt has taken the offensive, employing a classic “blame the victims strategy,” the Nouvel countersuit further states.
Pitt and his people have told Nouvel’s representatives that Jolie, Nouvel and Nouvel’s current owners are responsible for a business dispute that he “instigated and that he continues to escalate,” according to the Nouvel countersuit.