Brangelina may be over to us but on paper, they’re still together
As one of the most iconic couples in the celeb sphere, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie announced their split back in 2016 it felt like the earth stopped turning for a second.
Yet eight years on and a few shocking headlines later, somehow the two aren’t legally divorced yet.
If you’re like me, the question of why may have crossed your mind one random sleepless night, but worry no longer, we might have some of the answers as to why.
War of the Rosé
A big reason why the former couple haven’t finalised their split seems to be due in part to an ownership dispute over their Chateau Miraval winery in the south of France.
According to a Vanity Fair article in 2008, Brad and Angelina bought a vineyard for $60m (€55,665,000) as a French hideaway and an opportunity for their kids to frolic in relative privacy and to make a small fortune off the local grapes.
When they first launched their wine brand in 2013, the 6,000 bottles of Miraval Rosé they had sold out in mere hours, yet despite the success of their beverage, their marriage would fail.
In 2014 Brad had 60% control of the vineyard, while Angelina had 40%, and sales had grown by 300%. It had an estimated worth of $164m (€152,183,800), with Brad later transferring 10% to his wife so they were equal partners.
The beginning of the end
Despite looking picture-perfect on the outside, in 2016 after a reported year of built-up tension, things finally exploded with the couple engaging in a heated argument during a plane journey back to California.
Brad, who had allegedly been drinking on the flight, and Angelina were arguing when “he became aggressive”.
When the incident was reported, Brad was investigated by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, as well as the FBI because the alleged abuse took place on a plane.
Five days later, Angelina filed for divorce.
Nothing came from that initial investigation, but a judge ruled that the children have experienced “lasting physical and mental trauma” as a result.
Six years later, someone called Jane Doe (who some believe is an alias for Angelina) filed a Freedom of Information request to access the FBI report.
Fast forward to February 2022 and Brad sued his estranged wife over their Miraval vineyard for, he claims, illegally selling her shares because they had supposedly agreed not to do that without the other person’s permission.
Apparently, Brad had slowly frozen Angelina out of the estate’s profits, prompting her decision to sell.
In February 2021, “Pitt opted to buy her half of Miraval,” and “they agreed that he would pay Jolie $54.5m (€50,583,630) for her entire interest, including undistributed profits.”
This may have been the end of their legal battle over the vineyard if it weren’t for Angelina’s cross-complaint stating that she and the children had been victims of domestic violence.
Around this time the actress decided to sell her shares to Tenute del Mondo for $67m (€62,185,380).
In February 2022, Brad filed his lawsuit against Angelina and her holding company Nouvel regarding the sale.
Where are they now?
In July of last year, Angelina filed documents that accused her ex-husband of “looting” their once-shared vineyard.
In the lawsuit, as reviewed by the Financial Times, Angelina’s lawyers accused Brad of acting like a “petulant child” and engaging in a “blatant money grab”.
They also came for the image he tried to portray as a winemaker, and said he “deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes”. Ooof.
Are they still married?
On paper yes, while they were both declared legally single, their marriage is still intact in the eyes of the law.
Between an ongoing dispute over custody of their children and the ownership of Miraval, things haven’t reached their end just yet.
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