Actor Brad Pitt has secured a fresh legal victory in his long-running dispute with ex-wife, actress-filmmaker Angelina Jolie, over Chateau Miraval, the French winery they once owned together.
According to a report by US-based entertainment news website Page Six, a Michigan judge has ruled that a former executive associated with the Stoli Group — the company whose wine division acquired Angelina Jolie's stake in Chateau Miraval — was improperly instructed not to answer dozens of questions during a deposition related to the 2021 sale in December last year.
Pitt's legal team has been seeking details about how the transaction was structured and whether Stoli owner Yuri Shefler played a role in facilitating the deal. The judge concluded that attorney-client privilege did not apply to the commercial aspects of the sale and therefore could not be used to withhold testimony.
As a result, former Stoli general counsel Todd Culyba has been ordered to appear for another deposition and answer the previously blocked questions, along with any relevant follow-ups.
The dispute dates back to 2022, when Pitt sued Jolie over the sale of her stake in Chateau Miraval, alleging that she went ahead with the transaction without his approval despite an agreement between them. Jolie has denied the existence of any such agreement and has accused Pitt of using courts to pursue what she described as a "vindictive war" against her.
The latest decision follows a recent victory for Jolie, when a judge rejected Pitt's request for access to certain private emails related to the dispute.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie first met while filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith and went public with their relationship in 2005, quickly becoming one of Hollywood's most famous couples, nicknamed ‘Brangelina’.
They welcomed six children together — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne — before getting married in 2014 at their French estate, Chateau Miraval.
In 2016, Jolie filed for divorce, triggering years of legal disputes over child custody, finances and their shared winery. Although they were declared legally single in 2019 and finalised their divorce in December 2024, the former couple remain locked in a legal battle over Chateau Miraval and Jolie's 2021 sale of her stake in the business.
