Angelina Jolie has detailed how difficult her divorce from ex-husband Brad Pitt was for her in a new court filing in the ex-husbands’ ongoing legal battle over their French home, Chateau Miraval.
The movie star spoke about the breakup in a declaration filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday in response to his ex-girlfriend’s request to provide private messages regarding the chateau dispute.
“The events that led to my having to leave my ex-husband were emotionally difficult for me and my children,” Jolie, who has previously accused Pitt of abuse, claims in a document obtained by Page Six.
“When I filed for divorce, I left him with control (and full residency) of our family homes in Los Angeles and Miraval without compensation, in the hope that this would make him more gentle in his dealings with me after a difficult and traumatic period.”
The ‘Maria’ star, 50, went on to claim that she and her children – Maddox, 24, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 19, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17 – will “never set foot in Miraval again” due to “its association with the painful events that led to their divorce.”
“After the separation, I immediately started looking for a new home for me and my children. At first, I was looking for a more stable solution while renting a house,” she added.
Pitt, 61, is suing Jolie, accusing him of selling a stake in a luxury property in France to the Story Group’s wine division without his permission. Jolie claimed that his permission was not needed.
In a statement, the “Maleficent” star explained that his savings were “tied to Miraval” and that he needed the funds from the castle because he was not seeking “alimony or other financial support” from the “Fight Club” actor.
“I was also very concerned about my children’s health, so I turned down work for about two years to focus on caring for them and recovering,” she added.
Jolie claimed that her finances were so tight that she couldn’t even “outright” afford a house in Los Angeles for herself and her children, so Pitt allegedly agreed to lend her the money “with interest.”
According to the filing, the matriarch of the family discussed selling her Miraval shares to him in early 2017 with her ex-husband, but claimed negotiations had “always been difficult” for her because of her “deep emotional ties” to the family home and “how[their]relationship ended.”
“Miraval was one of the first major investments we made together and was the center of our family life,” she said. “We got married there, spent part of our pregnancy there, and brought our twins home from the hospital. It was hard to be suddenly away from home and memories, especially having our children’s lives so disrupted.”
Jolie also revealed in court that she is seeking $33,000 from Pitt in legal fees that she had to pay in order to comply with a motion to release the F1 star’s message.
“Jolie, through her attorney, has repeatedly asked Pitt to withdraw (the allegations),” the attorneys said in a written statement.
“She warned multiple times that if the court denied Pitt’s motion, Jolie would ask the court to order Pitt to pay Jolie’s attorney fees in opposition to the motion.”
The attorneys continued, “Pitt has still refused to withdraw the lawsuit. Therefore, Jolie is asking the court to order Pitt to repay the significant attorney fees incurred.”
Pitt claimed in court papers filed in July that he was requesting the messages after Stoli Group’s Alexei Oliynik allegedly refused to comply with a deposition request. One source repeatedly claimed to Page Six at the time that “they have not followed typical legal procedures.”
In August 2024, Page Six exclusively learned that the reason the A-list star was vying for Jolie’s shares in the first place was for the future financial well-being of their now-separated children.
“It’s important that people understand that Brad’s motivation is to ensure that his children receive the maximum benefit of this asset,” a source told Us at the time. “Once it was sold, that was no longer the case, and the inheritance was significantly reduced.”
“This is a commercial dispute and not part of the divorce,” a source told Page Six in response to Jolie’s declaration, adding that it was “unfortunate but not surprising” that there were “excuses for not sharing the emails as part of discovery.”
Page Six has reached out to Pitt’s representatives for comment.
