Angelina Jolie has claimed, via lawyers in a new court filing, that Brad Pitt was allegedly abusive toward her before the 2016 plane incident, something which the actor has always denied.
After two years of marriage, the 48-year-old Tomb Raider actress filed for divorce from the 60-year-old Fight Club star in 2016.
The former spouses - who started dating in 2004 - were declared legally single in 2019, and a joint custody arrangement was established in 2021. However, this arrangement was short-lived as the judge overseeing the case was disqualified due to his close business relationships with Pitt's legal team.
Pitt and Jolie share six children, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, and Pitt and Jolie's three biological children: Shiloh, 17, and 15-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
The exes bought a 1,300-acre French winery estate in Provence in 2008 and went into business with the Perrin family of winemakers five years later to produce Château Miraval's signature rosé.
According to The Independent, both stars each possessed a 50 percent share in the property, as well as its wine-making enterprise. However, after the divorce, the Maleficent actress sold her stake in the property to a Russian oligarch in 2021.
This prompted a lawsuit from the Bullet Train star in which he accused her of "systematic obstruction" of his management, and of selling her part of a stake without allowing him the chance to purchase it first.
Now in new court documents, filed to Los Angeles County Superior Court, the actress's legal team filed a motion aiming to release communications they say would prove Pitt would not let his ex-wife sell her share of their winery to him unless she agreed to a "more onerous" and "expansive" NDA, per Page Six.
The pair have been embroiled in divorce proceedings concerning their business, child custody, and disagreements over their various properties.
Back in 2022, the Eternals actress filed a cross-complaint that contained allegations that Pitt physically abused one of their children onboard a private jet in 2016.
The filings, which were obtained by The New York Times, contended that Pitt "choked one of the children and struck another in the face" and "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her".
It also states that, at one point, "he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children". The actor vehemently denied the claims at the time and was never charged following an investigation into allegations of abuse.
However, Jolie's lawyers now allege in a new filing that the Troy actor had a history of physical abuse towards his ex-wife before the 2016 incident, stating: "While Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him."
The latest filing also disclosed that Jolie "never pressed charges as she believed the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility and help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused," and alleges that the Mr. & Mrs. Smith actor tried to silence her with the NDA.
However, a June 2023 filing from Pitt’s legal team argues that Jolie was the one who proposed an "even broader non-disparagement clause" and that Pitt’s team offered a "narrower" one intended to "protect" their wine business.
"The clause also made clear that there would be no limitation on Jolie’s ability to speak in connection with Pitt and Jolie’s divorce or custody proceedings. It specifically provided: This commitment shall however not limit the ability, for any Party, to make any claims, filings or testimony in any legal proceedings," it states, per PEOPLE.