Absolutely everything there is to know about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and some very expensive grapes.

With millions of dollars and the best divorce lawyers money can buy, celebrity couples can usually get a divorce granted relatively quickly. But almost seven long years after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt announced they were no longer Brangelina, the estranged exes are still battling it out to have their divorce finalised. 

First and foremost, there’s been the long-running, and very bitter, battle for custody over their six children, Maddox, 21, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 17 and 14-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. 

Over the years, both sides have remained steadfast in their narratives: Jolie, 48, claims Pitt was an abusive partner who tore their family apart, while Pitt, 59, alleges Jolie is simply out for vengeance and acting out of spite. 

There’s been allegations of child abuse against Pitt, his own admissions about his alcohol addictions, leaked documents and constant court battles. There was even a momentary truce between the pair in April 2019, when a judge “bifurcated” their marriage and rendered Jolie and Pitt officially single, even as the other murky areas of their divorce were still being resolved. 

“Brad and Angelina have come a long way,” a source told ET at the time. “While they don't agree about everything, they rarely argue now.”

Fast forward a few years and their divorce has gotten uglier than ever. Now, the heart of the conflict is the dispute over the ownership of their Chateau Miraval winery in the south of France. It’s the romantic spot where the once-besotted couple married in 2014, a dreamy 35-room mansion surrounded by a moat, fountains, a pond, a chapel and a vineyard. In her own words, Jolie described Miraval as, “A place that held the promise of what could be and where I thought I would grow old.”

It was also a highly profitable commercial business for Pitt and Jolie, raking in US$50 million in 2021 alone from its signature wine, Miraval Côtes de Provence rosé, as well as olive oil, honey and a skincare line.

But that was then – and now, as The War of the Rosé bitterly wages on, the Chateau is nothing but a legal nuisance that holds tarnished memories and represents millions more spent on courtroom fees for the once Hollywood power couple.

Watch: Mamamia Outloud talks about why Brangelina really broke up. Post continues after the video.

The legal fight for Chateau Miraval kicked off when Pitt sued Jolie in February 2022. According to him, the pair agreed they would never sell their share in the US$30 million property without the other’s permission, but Jolie did just that when she secretly sold her stake to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler. 

“She sold her interest with the knowledge and intention that Shefler and his affiliates would seek to control the business to which Pitt had devoted himself and to undermine Pitt’s investment in Miraval,” the court documents state. 

Pitt claims Jolie “stopped contributing” to renovations at the property way back in 2013, while he funded “roughly 70 per cent of the couple’s investment in Miraval”. A recent in-depth Vanity Fair article on the rise and fall of the Chateau depicts Pitt as spending eight to 12 hours with architects, designers, plumbers and stonemasons during its renovation, such was his dedication. 

In January 2021, Jolie had sent a teary email to Pitt expressing her desire to sell the chateau. Despite holding cherished family memories like bringing their newborn twins, Knox and Vivienne, home to the French estate, she could no longer be involved “in a business based on alcohol, when alcoholic behaviour harmed our family so deeply”.

Pitt took steps to buy out his ex. Outside the wine war, the custody battle carried on, and in May, he scored a major win when he was granted joint custody to their six kids after five years of fighting. That decision was overruled in October - the same month that the actor found out via a press release that “vindictive” Jolie had secretly sold her 50 per cent stake. 

Listen: The Spill discusses the Brad Pitt being granted joint custody of his children with Angelina Jolie following a five-year court battle between the former couple. Post continues after the podcast.

A year later, Jolie came swinging back – filing her own US$250 million countersuit against Pitt for trying to “seize control” of the French winery so she would never see its profits. In the suit, the actress also claimed that Pitt tried to force her to sign a “hush-clause” to forbid her from publicly disclosing the circumstances of their divorce – i.e. the infamous plane flight in September 2016 in which Pitt was accused of physical and verbal abuse against Jolie and their children.

In the suit, Jolie revealed more details about the fateful journey from France to California that ultimately ended their marriage. The lawsuit alleges that a drunk Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face”, “periodically emerged from the back of the plane to yell and swear at them” and poured beer on Jolie and red wine on the kids. 

Five days later, Jolie filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences” and starting perhaps the most acrimonious and drawn-out divorce that Hollywood has ever seen.

Pitt denied the claims, but there’s no doubt the fresh conflict derailed the divorce proceedings even further. On June 1, 2023, the actor filed an amended complaint in the Miraval case, seeking to have Jolie’s sale reversed and claiming she sold to get revenge amid their nasty custody battle.

He also calls her choice of buyer “intentionally damaging” because Stoli’s ties to Vladimir Putin would mean bad news for the wine business. 

“Stoli and Jolie have sought to force Pitt into a partnership with a stranger, and worse yet, a stranger with poisonous associations and intentions,” the document alleges.

Now, court filings newly obtained by People magazine claim Pitt has acted like "petulant child" during the dispute, alleging he has "engaged in increasingly outrageous actions to retain control over Château Miraval and harm Nouvel [Jolie's former investment firm] by stripping Château Miraval of its assets".

While the actor has yet to comment, a source close to Pitt told People, "Brad built this business with Angelina for their family and she sold it behind his back. He wants to hold on to the business and continue to grow it."

Image: Getty.

This article was published on July 9, 2023, and has since been updated with new information.

Calling all parents! Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.