Angelina Jolie detailed past abuse allegations against ex-husband Brad Pitt in new court documents filed in the duo’s ongoing battle over the French winery they shared during their relationship.
The Wanted actress, 47, disclosed new information about a September 2016 flight that she and Pitt, 58, took with their children from France to California. In documents obtained by Us Weekly, Jolie’s lawyers alleged that the Ad Astra actor was “physically and emotionally abusive” toward his then-wife and their kids throughout the flight.
“When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him,” Jolie’s legal team alleged in docs filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, October 4. “To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow. The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying.”
The filing goes on to allege that the Seven actor “poured beer on Jolie” and later “poured beer and red wine on the children.”
The Unbroken director filed the complaint against her ex-husband as part of the pair’s fight over Château Miraval. Pitt previously claimed that he wanted to buy Jolie’s share in the winery, but she sold it to a third party without his knowledge.
In the new docs, the Girl, Interrupted star claimed that she did give her ex the opportunity to buy her out, but he allegedly demanded she sign a nondisclosure agreement “that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children.” After she refused to agree to that provision, the Oscar winner “walked away from the deal.”
Pitt was investigated for child abuse by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services after the flight, but he was cleared of the abuse allegations in November 2016. He was also briefly investigated by the FBI because the flight was international, but the agency closed the investigation without pressing charges in November 2016.
The former couple tied the knot in 2014 after nearly a decade together. They share six children: Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 14.
Earlier this year, Puck reported that Jolie filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the FBI, requesting records related to their investigation of Pitt after the flight. In court docs obtained by Us in August, “Jane Doe” claimed that she has been “seeking the withheld information for … years in an effort to ensure that her children receive” the “care” and “counseling” they need to “address harm suffered.”
The complaint described the requestor as “a victim of the assault herself,” and alleged that the FBI “has hampered, and continues to hamper, her efforts to obtain for her children necessary ongoing care and medical attention, and has further harmed the children in the family law system.”
An insider told Us at the time, however, that the Eternals star already had the info requested in the FOIA lawsuit. “All parties have had this information for years, which was used in previous legal proceedings,” the source claimed in August. “There is nothing new here and serves no purpose.”
In the lawsuit, Jane Doe alleged that she “was not informed of the FBI’s closure of the investigation” before it was publicly announced and was not told why the agency decided to close the case. Doe — believed to be Jolie — received a response to her original FOIA request in 2021, but the documents were “extensively” redacted.
According to a report obtained by Us, the U.S. attorney’s office reviewed a statement of probable cause against Pitt but decided not to move forward with criminal charges because of “several factors” that were not disclosed.
