By Alison Boshoff for the Daily Mail
00:35 06 Apr 2024, updated 00:36 06 Apr 2024
The last words in their marriage — entered into just 25 months previously — were allegedly uttered by Brad Pitt on the steps of the private jet which had brought him, Angelina Jolie and their six children from their house in France to Los Angeles in September 2016.
‘F*** you,’ he said, apparently. ‘F*** you all.’ For good measure, according to Ms Jolie, he called her a ‘bitch’ and ‘shook her’ by the head and shoulders.
The alleged argument on the plane, which ended their marriage, has been rehearsed by Ms Jolie in a court filing.
What started out as an altercation apparently between him and one of the children turned — she says — into a physical fight during which he poured beer and wine over his family and injured his wife by throwing himself backwards into a row of seats while she was clinging to his back.
However, in a new legal move the actress has claimed that Pitt — twice named People magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ — was physically and emotionally abusive to her before that point.
‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s plane trip from France to Los Angeles… this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well,’ her attorneys claim in newly released court papers.
The court papers claim that Ms Jolie has evidence of ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of the family and control abuse of Jolie’ and claims the children continue to experience ‘significant and ongoing post-traumatic stress’.
Attorneys for Ms Jolie refer to a ‘history of abuse, control and cover-ups’ and claim Ms Jolie has ‘testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence’ which, they say, will show how Pitt tried to conceal his behaviour if they come to trial.
The actor’s denials of physical abuse are described in the court documents as ‘gaslighting’.
Additionally, it claims he exerted ‘coercive’ financial control over her via their dispute over the Miraval wine-making business as their divorce has dragged on over the past seven years.
Pitt has denied all allegations of physical abuse and was not charged following an FBI probe into the incident on the flight.
A source close to the actor described the filing this week as ‘pretty much more of the same’ from Ms Jolie, adding that it fitted a ‘pattern’.
‘Whenever there is a decision that goes against the other side they consistently choose to introduce misleading, inaccurate and/or irrelevant information as a distraction,’ the source said.
The pair met on the set of Mr And Mrs Smith in 2004 and the following year Pitt and his then wife Jennifer Aniston announced their divorced.
In 2008, Pitt and Ms Jolie bought Chateau Miraval, a 35-room house in Provence with 926 acres and a vineyard.
He and Ms Jolie have six children, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15, and were married at Chateau Miraval in 2014.
Ms Jolie filed for divorce five days after the incident in 2016 and a legal battle has raged ever since.
Her latest filings contend they had all but agreed on a deal for her to sell her part of the Chateau and its wine business to him back in February 2021.
But they claim the deal collapsed due to a filing made as part of their concurrent custody dispute.
Lawyers say that on March 12, Ms Jolie filed for the eyes of the custody judge two ‘offers of proof’ detailing ‘evidence of Pitt’s domestic violence against Jolie and their children’.
They say her sealed filing ’caused Pitt to fear the information could eventually become public’.
Documents claim: ‘Pitt changed course and 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.’
Pitt is accused in the documents of taking advantage of her absence from Miraval to gain control of the winery and refusing to distribute profits to her.
Ms Jolie rejected the NDA and told Pitt she intended to sell her share.
Pitt’s version of events suggests that her sale was a ‘vindictive’ act and fuelled by anger over a 50-50 custody decision.
This was later overturned after it was found that the judge had not declared a business relationship with a lawyer on Pitt’s team.
Ms Jolie’s lawyer Paul Murphy said: ‘By refusing to buy her interest but then suing her, Pitt put directly at issue why that NDA was so important to him and what he hoped it would bury: his abuse of Jolie and their family.’
An insider described the situation as ‘incredibly sad,’ adding that Ms Jolie ‘just wishes’ Pitt ‘could move on and let her be.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.