Angelina Jolie scores big win over Brad Pitt in French winery case: ‘He was completely out of bounds’

The judge’s decision wasn’t entirely skewed towards Angelina as they noted that “further discovery” in her communications “may yield additional facts that could potentially rebut” her claims, but stated that Brad “has not done so on the present record”, as per a Page Six report. As per a previous agreement between former spouses, Brad and Angelina couldn’t sell their stake in the winery without each other’s consent.

Brad sued Angelina in 2022 for $35 million in damages for her 2021 sale of her stake in the French winery. Angelina filed a countersuit, denying the existence of such an agreement and alleged that Brad is “waging a vindictive war against” amid their long divorce battle, which started in 2016 and got finalized only in 2024.

With the ruling on Tuesday, the judge followed an appellate court’s decision to overturn a previous court order that forced Angelina to present the private emails. However, the motion was “denied without prejudice”, implying that Brad can raise the issue later. The court also dubbed Angelina’s request for sanctions worth $33,692.50 as “not warranted”, stating that Brad’s claims were “not without substantial justification”.

Angelina’s lawyers on setback to Brad

After the ruling in favour of Angelina, her lawyers said in a statement, “This is an important victory for Ms. Jolie. The decision shows that Mr. Pitt was completely out of bounds when he sought access to obviously privileged documents. Remember, he initially demanded 126 privileged documents, but then backtracked to 22, and now Mr. Pitt is getting nothing, zero.” They further claimed that the lawsuit is just Brad’s “pattern of demanding control over anything Angelina, including control over her communications with her own attorneys. We are extremely gratified that the both the Court of Appeal and the trial court ultimately put a stop to it.”

Back in October 2023, Brad had requested the judge to compel Angelina to disclose her communications in this matter with her business manager, her British publicists, and two financial consultants. However, Angelina’s counsel argued that the documents were part of her legal strategy, and hence, protected by attorney-client privilege.

How the French winery case is linked to Brad’s alleged abuse

During the proceedings of the French winery case, Angelina’s lawyers also argued that Brad refused to buy her out of the business because of her refusal to sign a 2022 non-disclosure agreement “designed to force her silence about his abuse and cover-up”. Brad allegedly abused his family, physically and verbally, during a 2016 private jet flight. Angelina didn’t press charges against him at the time.

Angelina’s counsel has thus argued that Brad’s “continuing refusals to produce documents are related to the reasons why he needed his four-year NDA covering his personal misconduct”. They further claimed that Brad must produce the documents as they are key “to the heart of our case”. “The burdensome nature of any production is a matter of Mr. Pitt’s own creation — he is suing Ms. Jolie for $35 million in damages. As a result, he has to incur the expense of producing the documents that will show (or not show) those damages,” they further stated.

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Brad and Angelina, who starred together in Doug Liman’s 2005 spy thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith and her 2015 directorial By The Sea, began dating in early 2006. They tied the knot in 2014 at the said French winery that they co-owned. However, they separated two years later when Angelina filed for divorce, which was finally granted in December 2024, resulting in one of Hollywood’s longest-running legal separations.  Brad and Angelina have six kids — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne — many of whom dropped their last name of Pitt following their parents’ divorce.