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Angelina Jolie has claimed
Brad Pitt was abusive towards her before the 2016 plane incident that led to the end of their marriage. The former couple — who are parents to Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and 15-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox — separated in September of that year after Pitt was accused of being drunk and aggressive during a flight from
France to
California, but in the latest court documents in their dispute over the Miraval winery they ones owned together, the Jolie's lawyers have alleged there was a "history of physical abuse" of the
Actress from her former spouse prior to the fateful journey. In a motion filed with the
Los Angeles Superior Court, Angelina claimed she tried to sell Brad her stake in the business but negotiations ultimately broke down after the 60-year-old
Actor conditioned the sale on his ex-wife signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that “prohibited Jolie from speaking (other than in court) about Pitt’s abuse of Jolie and their children by attempting to tie Pitt’s personal reputation to Miraval’s business.” It went on to allege Pitt's “history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles,” but didn't detail any other incidents. The 48-year-old actress claimed she agreed to sign an NDA that was “limited to not disparaging Miraval’s wine business” as part of her agreement to sell Brad her stake in the company. The filing added: “At trial, Jolie will 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." The documents went on to state the 'Eternals' actress didn't press charges in relation to the alleged altercation on the plane because she believed “the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility and help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused.” And Angelina's lawyers have accused Brad of deliberately trying to "bury his abuse" of his family. Attorney Paul Murphy told
CNN 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.” The court filing was a response to Brad's amended complaint from June 2023, in which she claimed Angelina had refused to sign his NDA but instead proposed an even broader agreement that would have "provided that other than in court pleadings or testimony, neither party shall directly or through a party’s representatives make in a public forum any derogatory remark about the other party.” The
FBI previously investigated the plane incident but Brad was not arrested or charged, and his spokesperson previously disputed his former wife's account of the incident in her October 2022 legal documents. His representative said at the time: “Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do.” In October 2021, the 48-year-old actress sold her half of the winery to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group. Brad then sued her in 2022 for allegedly going against an agreement he said they had made not to sell up without getting approval from the other.