We know more about the accusations of Angelina Jolie. The American actress claims that her ex-husband Brad Pitt abused two of their children during an argument between the couple on board a private jet in 2016, according to court documents which leaked in the United States on Tuesday.
The two Hollywood stars separated that year, and their divorce proceedings have since been bogged down in long legal battles, notably concerning the custody of their children and the sale of a wine estate in the south of France.
In documents filed Tuesday, Angelina Jolie details a violent altercation with her ex-husband during a flight from California to France in September 2016. Brad Pitt “choked one of the children and hit another” and also “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her” before “pushing her against the wall of the toilet”, where the argument had started, according to the documents, quoted by several American media, including the New York Times et Variety.
During this confrontation the actor, who accused his wife of being “too obsequious” with their offspring, “poured beer” on his ex-wife, and “beer and red wine on the children” .
No pursuit
When the actor Fight Club came to blows, “one of the children verbally defended” his mother. Brad Pitt then “rushed to his own child,” according to the documents, and the actress “grabbed him from behind to stop him.” “The children intervened,” according to the document. The actor then “strangled one of the children and punched another in the face”. Some “asked him to stop”, others “cried”.
After this dispute, the investigation carried out by the federal authorities did not lead to any prosecution. Angelina Jolie filed for divorce a few days after that plane trip. Contacted by AFP, representatives of Brad Pitt had not yet responded Tuesday afternoon. According to these new documents submitted to justice, the altercation then influenced the sale of the wine estate, where the couple got married and for which they are now torn.
Battle around Miraval Castle
The actress’s defense explains that Angelina Jolie sold her shares of Château Miraval to a Russian oligarch, a property in the Var region where the couple had partnered since 2011 with a family of French winegrowers to produce a rosé wine, only after failed negotiations with her ex-husband. Reason: Brad Pitt demanded an agreement “which would have contractually prevented him from speaking (…) of the physical and emotional violence” committed on her and their children.
In June, the actor accused his ex-wife of having had “evil intentions” against him when she sold her shares in the estate to Yuri Shefler. His lawyers invoked supposed links between this Russian tycoon and the entourage of President Vladimir Putin, damaging to his image.
The billionaire is however a long-time critic of Mr. Putin’s regime and was confronted in court in 2002 with the Russian state.