Brad Pitt launched a scathing attack on Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler as he tries to challenge the tycoon’s purchase of Angelina Jolie’s half of the Chateau Miravel winery.
Pitt, 60, is reportedly close to finalizing his divorce from Jolie, 48, despite the couple having been separated for years. In 2021, Jolie sold her half of their French vineyard to Shefler for $64 million under the name Nouvel.
Since then, the Fight Club star has been fighting the sale of property and business in the south-east of France.
The actor said that when he heard about the sale, he “ended up being threatened” if he didn’t team up in a partnership with Stoli vodka billionaire Shefler on the winery, reports The sun.
Pitt further claims that Shefler “secretly” bought into the company and publicly announced a “partnership” with the Oscar winner.
Chateau Miraval is a symbol of happier times in the couple’s relationship. They stayed at the sprawling 17th-century estate when she gave birth to their twins in nearby Monaco in 2008, launched a successful wine business from its rich vineyards, and married there in 2014.
“Shefler took personal action to further his supposed partnership with Pitt after the transaction was completed, repeatedly writing to Pitt to get him to participate,” The Sun reports, citing documents.
Despite being separated for eight years, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are reportedly close to finalizing their divorce
Pitt says he was blindsided when Jolie sold her share of Chateau Miraval, a 35-room estate with a celebrated vineyard in the south of France that Pitt and Jolie bought in 2011 for $60 million. The 1,000-acre estate – now valued at $164 million – is where the couple tied the knot in 2014
Russian businessman Yuri Shefler has been labeled an ‘oligarch’ by the Ministry of Finance
“Since taking over Nouvel, Shefler has proposed a meeting between himself and Pitt to ‘discuss the way forward’… At times, Shefler expressed his fervent desire to work with Pitt.”
“At others, he threatened Pitt based on inflated allegations of mismanagement at Miraval,” according to the documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in February, according to The Sun.
Pitt says he had an agreement with Jolie that gave him “first refusal” if she chose to sell.
The couple had a “mutual and binding obligation” to the Chateau Miraval company worth $160 million and agreed not to sell it without the other’s consent. According to Vanity Fair, Jolie says that “no such agreement has ever existed.”
Pitt discovered his ex-wife had “secretly” sold her 50 percent stake when a 2021 press release announced he had new business partners, the actor’s lawyers said.
The buyer was part of a “Russia-linked” vodka conglomerate led by Shefler, which would use its new relationship with the A-lister to strengthen and improve its reputation, the courts alleged.
‘For Jolie, the sale was a business transaction to which she had every right. “In an effort to preserve her own mental health and well-being, she sought and found a good business partner for Pitt,” a source told Vanity Fair.
While Pitt saw the sale as ‘betrayal’.
Pitt claims Jolie’s sale to a ‘Russian oligarch’ could potentially tarnish the reputation of its highly regarded rosé
“It’s no coincidence that she sold her stake in Miraval to a hostile party, and part of the family home to a stranger, shortly after a judge awarded a major victory: 50-50 custody,” a source close to Pitt said to Vanity. Honestly.
The star’s legal team claims Shefler is just trying to profit from Pitt’s fame.
“He apologized for ‘surprising Pitt by entering his Miraval realm,’ and asked Pitt to ‘trust me and rely on me’ as his new ‘partner.’
But, Shefler warned, if Pitt did not bend to his wishes, Shefler would “protect his interests and not hesitate to see that process through to the end.”
“And he has made good on that threat: Since the transaction, Shefler has used Nouvel – the California LLC he now controls – to sue Pitt and attempt a hostile takeover of Château Miraval,” the documents continue.
In February, a court in Luxembourg – where Chateau Miraval’s holding company is based – stripped Nouvel of the portion of the shares Pitt had donated in 2013, handing control of them to a court-appointed receiver.
Pitt had argued that they were given with the understanding that she would not sell them.
Judge Carole Kerschen ruled that it was necessary to end the ‘blocking of decision-making’ and save the company. A merits hearing in about two years will likely decide that Pitt regains full control of the gifted shares.
By selling to Shefler instead, Jolie linked Chateau Miraval to Russia and Vladimir Putin – perhaps irreparably damaging the brand, Pitt claims.
In a counterclaim, Jolie accused Pitt of forcing her to sell to his company, Mondo Bongo, and spreading lies about Shefler’s connections and dealings with the Kremlin.
Pitt was further accused of hiding assets and using wine profits for a swimming pool and ornate staircase that was rebuilt several times.
An aerial photo taken on May 31, 2008 in Le Val, southeastern France, shows the Chateau Miraval
“The only thing that is true about Jolie’s cross-complaint is that she and Pitt purchased Château Miraval as a ‘loving home for their six children,'” Pitt’s lawyers protested in documents filed in 2022.
“As set forth in Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint, Pitt and Jolie had a mutual and binding obligation, reflected by their conduct and statements to each other over time, that they would hold Miraval together and, when the time came was that they would sell their products. their interests separately only with the consent of the other.’
The filing said Pitt trusted Jolie and therefore “devoted his time and resources to renovating the estate and building a highly successful wine company.”
“Jolie supported Pitt’s efforts on behalf of the family, but did none of the work necessary for Miraval’s success,” the filing continues.
Instead, she allowed Pitt to invest money and stock in the company, relying on her promise to keep Miraval together, and on the contractual rights owed to him by her holding company Nouvel. By the time they broke up, Pitt’s investment exceeded Jolie’s by nearly $50 million.”
The legal battle apparently continues to this day, with French authorities investigating the matter, VF reports.
The Vanity Fair article ends by noting that no one from the Pitt or Jolie families has returned to stay at the property since September 2016.