Actress Angelina Jolie has previously claimed that she decided to divorce actor Brad Pitt following abuse that happened on an airplane in 2016. Now, Jolie’s lawyers have filed new court documents that claim the actor actually abused his wife at the time long before the plane incident.
PEOPLE reports that the new court documents state, “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.”
While a representative for Pitt has not responded to PEOPLE’s request for a comment on Jolie’s claim, a friend of Pitt did speak to PEOPLE. The friend shared, “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.”
The situation is a fight between Jolie and Pitt over the winery they own in France, Château Miraval.
The friend explained, “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.”
According to Jolie’s lawyers, “Jolie’s sealed filing, which included emails, summaries of the family’s expected testimony and other evidence, caused Pitt to fear that the information could eventually become public.” They claim Pitt required Jolie to sign an additional NDA before she could sell her shares to him.
According to Pitt’s legal team, if Jolie had signed the NDA “there would be no limitation on Jolie’s ability to speak in connection with Pitt and Jolie’s divorce or custody proceedings. It specifically provided: This commitment shall however not limit the ability, for any Party, to make any claims, filings or testimony in any legal proceedings.”
Paul Murphy, Jolie’s attorney, said in a statement, “Mr. Pitt refused to purchase Ms. Jolie’s interest when she would not be silenced by his NDA. By refusing to buy her interest but then suing her, Mr. Pitt put directly at issue why that NDA was so important to him and what he hoped it would bury: his abuse of Ms. Jolie and their family. After eight months of delays, this motion asks the Court to force Mr. Pitt to finally produce that evidence.”
All the drama over the winery started when Jolie sold her half of the winery in 2022 without telling Pitt.
Do you believe Jolie’s claims about Pitt’s abuse, or do you think it’s a distraction from the lawsuit?
