Brad scores victory against ex
LOS ANGELES - Brad Pitt is making progress in his lawsuit against exwife Angelina Jolie for selling her share of their jointly-owned French estate and winery, Château Miraval, to a Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler in 2021.
The 60-year-old actor, according to legal documents reviewed by The US Sun Monday, ‘racked up a win in a French court last week’ in connection with a ruling over documents authorities seized in a March 2022 raid.
‘There’s a long way to go in this litigation, but at the moment, the momentum is certainly with Brad,’ an insider close to the ‘Moneyball’ leading man told the outlet after the Thursday ruling in an appeals court in the the Aix-en-Provence.
The source said last week’s ruling marked the third consecutive time Pitt has made progress in the case.
‘In recent months, he’s landed three courtroom wins across three different jurisdictions: Luxembourg, the United States and now France,’ the source said of the ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ actor. ‘From the moment this hostile takeover bid began, he made it clear that he wasn’t going to be bullied - and he meant it.’
‘The Fight Club’ actor ‘has stood his ground and will continue to do what is right.’
The recent ruling was linked to a March 2022, raid on the winery, in which officials brandishing search warrants took possession of documents and computer in connection with accusations toward Shefler’s firm Nouvel of ‘malfeasance and misuse of company assets,’ according to the outlet, citing documents in the case.
Under French law, companies involved in lawsuits can be given clearance by the court to procure evidence from the parties they are suing, in conjunction with court-appointed officials.
The outlet reported that in the case, a separate court subsequently reversed the aforementioned ruling, ordering the items collected from Shefler to ‘remained locked and sealed’ pending further orders from the court.
On Thursday, according to the outlet, Judge Valerie Gerard blocked Shelfer and his company Nouvel from gaining access to the materials acquired in the raid.
The judge said that as ‘an indirect shareholder,’ Nouvel ‘had no legal standing’ to request access to the documents, which are in the custody of officials with Pitt’s French firm SA Chateau Miraval.