LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Legal expert Neama Rahmani recently said that former couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s ongoing legal battle over the stakes of their French winery, Chateau Miraval, can go to trial in the future. The lawyer even compared their situation to that of Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard’s defamation case.
“There’s so many allegations,” Rahmani, who is not affiliated with either of the parties, told US Weekly. “You’ve got family law, you’ve got custody, there’s allegations of abuse, and obviously, you have a very valuable chateau that the two are fighting over,” he said. Back in February 2022, Pitt filed a lawsuit against Jolie and claimed that she illegally sold her shares from the winery, flouting an agreement that the couple would not take part in any sales without each other’s approval.
As per court documents obtained by the publication, Pitt alleged that Jolie, who filed for divorce from him in September 2016, initially began negotiating with the former to buy her stake in the property in 2019 in the middle of their ongoing divorce proceedings. The ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ star said that the negotiations fell apart when Jolie began to fight for the custody of their six children. The ‘Maleficent’ star reportedly decided to sell 50 percent of her share to Yuri Shefler, owner of the Tenute del Mondo conglomerate. Pitt alleged that Jolie made the decision “vindictively” and did not give him the chance to match or outbid her offer.
‘This is his estate’
Speaking about Pitt and Jolie’s agreement to not sell the shares without each other’s approval, Rahmani said, “What Brad is arguing here is there was an agreement — it seems like it’s the handwritten, back of the napkin type agreement — where Angelina said ‘I wouldn’t do it.’” He further explained, “But also, what he’s arguing here is, well, even if Angelina could sell to a third party, he had a right of first refusal. He could match any offer, and Angelina didn’t give him the opportunity to do so.”
The lawyer theorized that now that Pitt is “trying to unwind the sale,” his best result would be to get “the entire chateau to himself, or at least the opportunity to buy out Angelina.” On the other hand, his second-best outcome would be to receive money from Jolie in damages. “This is his estate. This is where he got married. Apparently, he wants to retire there. I don’t think he wants to be sharing it or have a Russian oligarch as a roommate,” Rahmani mentioned.
‘The next Johnny Depp, Amber Heard-type case’
Rahmani mentioned that if Pitt and Jolie’s legal battle goes to court there could be a chance for both of them to lose out the case. “Sometimes when the court can’t [decide], they might order just to sell. They might auction it off to a third party and have everyone just be paid out. That’s not one of those situations where you’re a kid and you draw a line in the middle of the room with your siblings. It’s hard if you’re in some sort of dispute with a co-owner of a big property,” he noted.
“This may end up being the next Johnny Depp, Amber Heard-type case because these two don’t like each other, there’s a lot of money at stake, the allegations are serious and I don’t see a resolution happening anytime soon,” Rahmani mentioned, saying that the case might end up being the next big celebrity trial if the actors fail to reach an agreement.
