Angelina Jolie accuses Brad Pitt of being abusive ahead of 2016 plane confrontation
Angelina Jolie, through her lawyers, accused ex-husband Brad Pitt of being abusive towards her before the 2016 plane confrontation that led to her filing for divorce.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Jolie’s team, in a filing, said that Pitt's history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles.
“[T]his flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well,” Jolie’s lawyers claimed. “Jolie then immediately left him."
Jolie’s lawyers added that she "never pressed charges as she believed the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility and help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused."
In 2016, Jolie accused Pitt of raping her on a private plane. She also claimed Pitt “physically and verbally” assaulted her and their kids.
"Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face," according to court papers cited by American media, including The New York Times. He also "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her."
At one stage in the fight, "he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children."
The confrontation began in the plane's bathroom when Pitt told Jolie she’s "too deferential" to the children.
Variety, citing Jolie’s lawsuit, reported that Pitt “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall.”
"When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him,” the suit also said. "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."
Jolie filed for divorce after a few days.
Winery
Jolie’s legal team also filed a motion seeking to release communications that would supposedly prove that Pitt wouldn’t let her sell her share of the winery to him—unless she agreed to a "more onerous" and "expansive" non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
In June 2023, PEOPLE reported that Pitt sued Jolie for selling her portion of their shared winery without consulting him.
The lawsuit claims the purported sale was "unlawful" due to "contractual agreement" breaches between Jolie and Pitt "to hold Miraval together and not sell their interests separately without the other's consent."
Jolie’s lawyers said the winery lawsuit would not have happened if Pitt had purchased her share when she made the offer. They accused Pitt of refusing the deal unless it came with the NDA, even as he supposedly feared that sealed documents in their other legal battle—the custody of their children—could be made public.
A June 2023 filing from Pitt’s team, meanwhile, claimed it was Jolie who suggested an “even broader non-disparagement clause” as part of the deal. Pitt’s team presented a “narrower” one “intended to protect the business.”
Pitt’s representative declined to comment to PEOPLE, but his friend told the publication that Jolie’s lawyers “consistently choose to introduce misleading, inaccurate, and/or irrelevant information as a distraction.”
Jolie and Pitt got together after co-starring in the 2005 movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They share six children.
They were ruled legally single in 2019, three years after Jolie filed for divorce.