Angelina Jolie is keeping her eyes firmly on the courtroom as the Château Miraval legal battle with Brad Pitt continues to develop, and her team is making clear that recent rulings in Pitt’s favour have done nothing to shake her confidence ahead of trial.
A lawyer for Jolie told PEOPLEon 25 June that the latest court decisions “have made no impact on the merits of the case, and certainly has no impact on Ms. Jolie’s case,” adding: “At this point, Ms. Jolie is just looking forward to defeating the case at trial next year so that their family can finally focus their energies on healing and moving on.”
The statement came a day after the California Court of Appeal reversed part of a prior ruling on Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler’s role in the Miraval sale, finding it “defies credulity” that Shefler would risk nearly $40 million on a transaction in which he had no meaningful involvement.
A hearing on a motion to compel Shefler’s deposition is set for 8 July. The broader picture of the case is becoming increasingly complex.
A 17 June court filing revealed that a California Superior Court had already granted Pitt’s motion to compel depositions from members of the Stoli Group, after his team argued the company had direct knowledge of Jolie’s 2021 sale of Château Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, Stoli’s wine division.
Stoli executive Alexey Oliynik had refused to provide documents or appear for deposition, claiming he could not be compelled as a Swiss resident.
New filings require depositions of Oliynik and other qualified persons from relevant entities to take place in London by 30 September.
Sources close to both parties are offering starkly different accounts of what drove the sale.
A source close to Jolie told PEOPLEshe sold to Stoli because she expected the company to be “an excellent world-wide distribution partner who could help grow the business for the benefit of their children, who stood to inherit Brad’s portion,” adding that “Pitt’s ego and obsession for control got in the way.”
A source close to Pitt countered that the ruling is “another step towards transparency over what took place,” alleging that Shefler “was a partner she chose knowing it was a partner Brad did not want involved in the business.”
In her own court filings, Jolie has characterised Pitt’s descriptions of Shefler as a “xenophobic, untrue smear campaign.”
Pitt’s team has pointed to boycotts of the Stoli Group linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and anti-LGBTQ legislation as reasons why the partnership was damaging to the business he helped build.
The legal dispute began in February 2022, when Pitt filed a complaint alleging Jolie sold her Miraval stake in breach of an agreement that neither party would do so without the other’s approval.
Jolie countersued in September 2022, claiming Pitt had been “waging a vindictive war against” her since she filed for divorce in 2016.
Their divorce was finally settled in December 2024. The civil trial is expected to take place next year.
2026-06-27 02:36:00
