Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt has filed a lawsuit against his no less famous ex-wife Angelina Jolie, accusing Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler of secretly selling his share in a joint vineyard.
According to a lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles court, in 2014, when Brad and Angelina officially got married, both agreed not to sell their shares in the property without the consent of the partner.
The “post-divorce” life of the once perfect couple of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie continues with a new round of litigation. Last week, Brad Pitt filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court against his ex-wife, where he accuses Angelina Jolie of selling her share in their common Miraval winery without his consent. And she sold it not to anyone, but to the Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler. With her act, Jolie caused “irreparable harm” to Pitt, who worked “till a sweat”, investing a lot of money and effort in the wine business.
The former Hollywood couple acquired a majority stake in the French company Chateau Miraval SA, a house and vineyard in southeastern France, in 2008. Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016.
Lawyers for Brad said that “the vineyard has become Pitt’s passion and under his leadership has grown into a multi-million dollar international success story, one of the most respected rosé producers in the world.”
The Miraval estate is located in the village of Correns and was bought by the couple for around 25 million euros. Brad Pitt contributed 60% and Jolie paid the remaining 40%. At the same time, Angelina Jolie did not share her husband’s winemaking passion, did not participate in the development of Miraval, but, intending to sell her share to Yuri Shefler in January 2021, “made this painful decision with a heavy heart.” At the same time, court documents state that Pitt agreed to the deal if he approved the buyer, but Jolie sold her share to “an unnamed person.”
This person was Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler living in London. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of SPI Group, an international group of companies specializing in the production and sale of alcoholic beverages, real estate and agriculture. In the Forbes ranking of the richest Russians, he ranks 58th with a fortune of $ 2.6 billion.
A tmz.com source close to Brad Pitt described the actor’s condition as follows: “This is another example of how Angelina Jolie neglects her legal and ethical obligations. In doing so, she violated the rights of the one person who invested money and labor in the success of the family business, which she sold to an outside competitor. Angelina Jolie is looking for a return on an investment she didn’t make and a profit she didn’t make.”
