Judge denies Angelina Jolie’s bid to dismiss Brad Pitt winery suit claims

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LOS ANGELES – Brad Pitt’s most recently amended lawsuit against former wife Angelina Jolie, in which he claims she wrongfully sold her shares in the business to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler without his consent, will proceed with three of the allegations the actress sought to have dismissed, a judge has ruled.

Jolie‘s lawyers had maintained Pitt’s allegations for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, tortious interference with contractual relations and tortious interference with prospective business relations had been unsuccessful four previous times in properly pleading those causes of action.

“At best, this is a case about the breach of an unspoken, unwritten contract implied from the facts and circumstances of two parties’ relationship,” Jolie‘s attorneys stated in their court papers.

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But on Friday, Judge Lia Martin, having taken Jolie’s motion under submission, overruled the actress’ request and told her to file an answer within 30 days.

Chateau Miraval is the 1,300-acre country estate in Provence, France the former couple bought in 2008 and where they married in 2014. In his most updated suit filed in June, Pitt, 60, contends that by 2016 he had funded roughly 70 percent of the couple’s investment, while Jolie, 49, had put up the remaining 30 percent. Pitt originally sued in February 2022.

Nouvel LLC, which Jolie formed as a vehicle for holding shares in Chateau Miraval, is a co-defendant in Pitt’s lawsuit. Before her alleged sale of Nouvel to the Stoli Group in 2021, Jolie was the sole member of the company and held 100% of its membership interest.

Shefler owns SPI Group, which produces Stolichnaya vodka.

While a valid written contract by law must be formed at a specific point in time, Pitt never alleges or explains when an implied agreement occurred, according to Jolie’s attorneys’ court papers. (CNS)