The fiery legal battle between A-list actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt still isn’t cooling off, with new court documents claiming Jolie instructed their children to “avoid” Pitt during his custody visits.
Lawyers for Pitt, 60, filed new court documents on Thursday alleging Jolie, 48, tried to sabotage the relationship between the ex-spouses’ six children and their father. According to ET News, who obtained the filing, a longtime security guard to Jolie said he was told a contractor overheard the Maleficent actor instructing her kids not to speak to Pitt during their visits.
Tony Webb, who is no longer employed by Jolie, also said she attempted to silence her employees and contractors through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
In a statement, Jolie’s lawyer called Pitt’s new legal filing “shameful.” The lawyer accused Pitt of equating Jolie’s “common NDAs” with his own requests to allegedly strengthen existing NDAs to aid in the “coverup of his deplorable actions.”
Pitt’s new allegations were filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, where Pitt and Jolie are arguing over the Château Miraval winery they used to own together in the south of France. In February 2022, Pitt began the messy legal proceeding when he sued Jolie for selling her share of the winery to a Russian oligarch instead of to him.
Jolie filed a countersuit of her own and claimed she sold her portion of the winery after negotiations to sell to Pitt came to a halt. She told the court Pitt insisted Jolie 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.”
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Much of the public attention on the lawsuit has revolved around Jolie’s claims Pitt was verbally and physically abusive to her and their children. The allegations stem from a now-infamous 2016 flight on a private jet that the family took together. Onboard, Jolie claimed Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her.”
Days after the flight, Jolie filed for divorce.
Despite an FBI investigation, Pitt has never been formally charged with domestic abuse.
According to Pitt’s latest legal filing, Webb had been on Jolie’s payroll as head of her security for over two decades, and even after she divorced Pitt. Webb said he and several other members of staff were told by Jolie they would be sued if they violated their NDAs by testifying in the ex-spouse’s earlier child custody case.
Regardless, Webb said some staff members “confirmed that they had planned to testify if subpoenaed.”
Webb said one of the contractors working under him allegedly heard Jolie “encouraging (their children) to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.” Webb did not hear the comment himself.
The legal filing maintains this security contractor who allegedly heard the comment, as well as another, testified in court. Webb said his company was fired “shortly thereafter.”
Webb now works for Pitt, the filing claims.
Jolie’s lawyer, Paul Murphy, addressed Pitt’s new claims in a statement to ET News.
“Mr. Pitt’s continued attempt to equate common NDAs for security personnel and housekeepers covering confidential information employees learn at work, with him demanding an expanded NDA to ensure the continued coverup of his deplorable actions remains shameful,” Murphy wrote. “This case is not about NDAs in general, but about power and control. All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt. She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.”
As for the winery, Pitt told the courts he and Jolie agreed they would sell their stakes in Château Miraval separately and “only with the other’s consent.” Jolie denies this.
Her lawyers told the court Pitt “suddenly conditioned his purchase of Jolie’s share of Miraval on her agreeing to a greatly expanded NDA now covering Pitt’s personal misconduct, whether related to Miraval or not.” Jolie has said this apparent NDA expansion was intended to conceal Pitt’s alleged abuse toward her and their children.
Pitt has told the court it was Jolie who wanted an expanded NDA, not him.
In April, Jolie told the L.A. court Pitt’s alleged physical abuse predates the 2016 private jet incident.
Jolie and Pitt share six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and 15-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.