The much-publicized Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt divorce continues to draw attention. The actress has now revealed how emotionally difficult her divorce from Brad Pitt was, and how their split continues to affect her, in new court filings related to their ongoing battle over France’s Château Miraval.
In a declaration filed Monday at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Jolie responded to Pitt’s request that she turn over private messages connected to the château dispute. “The events leading to my need to separate from my ex-husband were emotionally difficult for me and our children,” she wrote.
Jolie, 50, claimed she left Pitt “control (and full residency) of our family homes in Los Angeles and at Miraval, without compensation,” hoping that would make him “calmer in his dealings” after what she called “a difficult and traumatic period.”
She and her children — Maddox, 24, Pax, 21, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 19, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17 — have “never again set foot” at Miraval due to its “connection to the painful events leading to the divorce.”
After the separation, Jolie said she quickly began looking for a new home, renting at first while seeking stability for her family. She emphasized that her savings were “tied up in Miraval” and that she hadn’t asked for alimony or “any other financial support” from Pitt. She stated that she needed the money from her stake in the property.
“I was also very concerned about the health of our children, and so, for approximately two years, I declined work so that I could focus my attention on caring for our children and their recovery,” she wrote. She added that she couldn’t afford to buy a house “outright” in Los Angeles, and claimed Pitt agreed to loan her money “with interest.”
He needs to let her be. The way Brad Pitt fought to hide documents pertaining to the divorce Angelina Jolie filed should tell you everything.
Court documents on what happened on the plane, the FBI investigation, and the fact it was third parties that alerted the authorities. pic.twitter.com/ZUD92kuAKn
— AskAubry 🦋 🐆🦝 (@ask_aubry) November 29, 2024
Jolie said that talks with Pitt in early 2017 about selling her stake to him were “always difficult” because of “deep emotional ties” to the property and “how our relationship ended.” “Miraval was one of the first major investments we made together, and it was a focal point of our family life,” she said.
“We were married there, I spent part of my pregnancy there and I brought our twin children home there from the hospital. To have such a sudden break from my home and memories has been hard, and it was especially difficult for the children to have their lives so disrupted.”
Currently, Pitt is suing Jolie over the sale of her share to the Stoli Group, claiming she did so without his permission. Jolie maintains she did not need it.
In her filing, Jolie requested $33,000 from Pitt to cover legal fees she incurred while opposing his motion for her messages. “Jolie, through counsel, repeatedly asked Pitt to withdraw [the motion],” her lawyers argued.
“She even warned him numerous times that if the Court denied Pitt’s motion, Jolie would ask the Court to order Pitt to pay Jolie’s attorneys’ fees opposing the motion.” They noted Pitt “still refused to withdraw it,” forcing her to incur “substantial attorneys’ fees.”
Pitt, in July court filings, said he wanted the messages partly because Stoli executive Alexei Oliynik had allegedly refused deposition demands. Sources have claimed that the motivation behind Pitt’s fight is to protect the asset for his children’s future. “It’s important that people realize that Brad’s motivation is to ensure that his kids can maximize the benefit of this asset,” an insider told Page Six last year.
A source close to Pitt has dismissed Jolie’s latest claims, calling the matter “a commercial business dispute that is not a part of the divorce” and describing her statements as “excuses” for not sharing the emails.
