Brad Pitt is poised to take a big win in court in his ongoing battle with ex Angelina Jolie after a judge said she would grant the actor’s request to force Jolie to turn over nondisclosure agreements she has entered into – including those signed by her staff.
The pair continue to fight over her decision to sell her shares of the $500million business to a Russian businessman.
Pitt maintains that they agreed, as part of their divorce, not to sell any shares in the company without the other’s agreement.
In court on Thursday, Pitt’s attorneys argued the NDAs would be ‘highly probative’.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie continue to fight over the shares she sold to a Russian billionaire
Jolie sold her shares in the French winery to a Russian billionaire who controls the Stoli Group.
Judge Lia Martin said she was ‘inclined to’ grant Pitt’s motion, which would mean Jolie has to turn over all the NDAs she has entered into with various third parties since 2014.
‘I don’t see this as a character question,’ Judge Lia Martin said to attorneys on both sides in a Downtown Los Angeles court on Thursday.
‘There maybe agreements that [Jolie] entered into with people that may have terms similar or not. The court is not making any findings today about admissibility of the documents.’
The judge said she would render her final order by Thursday afternoon.
Jolie’s attorneys disagreed with the judge’s tentative ruling and said the Pitt’s demands for the NDA’s is being weaponized against the actress.
Paul Murphy, one of Jolie’s attorneys, said Pitt is seeking access to the NDAs as a tactic to hide ‘years of abuse’ the actor inflicted against his client and their six children.
The couple’s Miraval winery in France. The business, worth an estimated $500million, is now the source of an ongoing court dispute
In court records, Jolie made explosive claims that Pitt physically abused her outside of the 2016 flight when their children were present. Her attorneys claimed Pitt made Jolie sign an NDA as part of an ‘unconscionable’ attempt to control her and her interests in Miraval.
Jolie sold her shares to Russian Stoli billionaire Yuri Shefler
The years of abuse was the reason why Jolie refused to sell her shares of Miraval to Pitt and instead sold her stake to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler in 2021, her attorneys have said in court filings obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘He wanted to cover up his conduct because he could not stomach what he is covering up,’ Murphy said in court on Thursday. ‘Mr. Pitt’s abuse, his cover-up and actions, gaslighting his children – that is what changed.’
Murphy asked the judge to consider several factors if she approves Pitt’s request, including to limit the release the NDAs signed by Jolie only in 2020 – 2021, and not agreements related to her companies.
Pitt’s attorney, John Berlinski, said they also should be entitled to view Jolie’s NDAs related to all of her businesses since actors often use their company names when signing agreements.
Berlinski also argued the NDAs would be relative to the Miraval case since Jolie allegedly made others, including her staff, sign ‘gag orders’ to prevent them from talking about what they witnessed while they were employed at her home, including her treatment of Pitt and their children.
‘She was the one who weaponized the NDA and threatened to sue security guards simply if they testified,’ Berlinski said during Thursday’s hearing. ‘That’s significant.’
