Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have found themselves going to war in court once again this week in the wake of their bitter divorce, this time over the sale of their French wine business.
Legal documents obtained by Fox News show that Jolie wants to sell her interest in the exes’ Miraval Chateau Winery. Her team claims that after two years, she has found a third party interested in buying Nouvel, LLC. However, they add that she allegedly can’t sign off on the deal because of Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders (ATROs) that went into effect immediately after her divorce from Pitt was finalized in 2019.
Joseph Mannis, a lawyer representing Jolie, is asking the court to lift the ATROs so she can close the deal before the buyer pulls out. He’s made the argument that the Girl Interrupted star acquired Nouvel, LLC before her marriage to Pitt, so she’s the “sole member.”
While a hearing to deal with this matter has been scheduled for September 22, Jolie’s legal team says “time is of the essence” given that the third-party buyer could withdraw from the agreement. The lawyers representing Jolie went on to say that they filed this request because Pitt’s attorney, Lance Spiegel, has failed to provide a response as to why they oppose lifting the ATROs.
“As of the signing of this declaration, I have not received a response to my inquiry on June 25, 2021, whether Respondent will stipulate to lift the ATROs as they may apply to the subject sale transaction,” Mannis wrote. “I also have not received an explanation of the legal basis for Respondent to block the sale other than the existence of the ATROs.”
Jolie’s legal team made a similar request last month, but it was shot down by Judge Andrew Giza due to a “lack of showing of immediate danger/irreparable harm or immediate loss/danger to property.”
Laurent Schummer, an attorney in Luxembourg, to assist in selling Nouvel, LLC to a third party, told the court that Jolie is “extremely desirous of closing the pending agreement for the sale.”
The court was also told that Jolie “does not want to jointly hold separate property assets with her ex-husband or be his unwilling and disregarded business partner.”
Pitt has yet to publicly comment on this matter.
Jolie and Pitt split in 2016, but it took three years for their bitter divorce to be finalized. They continue to do battle in court regularly against one another, as they have yet to have come up with a good custody battle for their six children.
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.