The legal battle between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt over the winery Chateau Miraval

Shocking new details have been revealed about the legal battles between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt following their 2016 divorce. In an article for the July/August issue of Vanity Fair magazine, special correspondent Mark Seal delved into the dispute between the Brangelinas regarding their formerly beloved French winery, Chateau Miraval. The couple bought the vineyard in 2008 for around €25 million and became 50/50 owners of the property as well as the wine production facility. Among those who told Vanity Fair were the couple's former security chief, winemakers, real estate agents and others well-versed in their time in the south of France.

In 2021, according to Vanity Fair, Jolie, 47, and Pitt, 58, seemed to have reached an agreement whereby he would buy her half of the business. The deal stalled when Pitt attempted to introduce an NDA that would prevent the famous actress from discussing their "high-profile" disputes in front of the children on a private plane in 2016. The relationship between the star actors began to crack in 2015, and the crisis reached its peak when the family was returning to the U.S. from Chateau Miraval in 2016.

Pitt stated that he was shocked when he learned that Jolie sold her share in Chateau Miraval, which is secured by a 35-room mansion and a famous vineyard in the south of France that Pitt and Jolie bought for $60 million in 2011. The 1,000-acre estate, now valued at $164 million, saw cracks appear in their marriage.

Sources close to Pitt claim that the NDA was simply related to the winery to ensure that the seller would not harm the asset's value after the purchase. Pitt's representatives maintain that it was actually Jolie who first brought up the NDA, and when she started discussing the terms of the agreement, that was when she canceled the deal. Shortly thereafter, Jolie sold her stake to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler, who has been identified by the U.S. Treasury as an "oligarch."