Angelina Jolie's former investment company, Nouvel, is suing Brad Pitt over years of “pugnacious” actions aimed at destroying the wine business the couple previously owned, according to a complaint filed in California on Monday that Fortune reviewed. The complaint called Pitt a “petulant child” who gaslighted Jolie and her business partners, shoveled millions of euros into the trash out of spite, and made xenophobic claims about a business affiliate. (Pitt's lawyer did not respond to Fortune's request for comment.)
Jolie and Pitt bought the 1,300-acre French winemaking estate Chateau Miraval together in 2008. The property encompasses a winery and a 35-room château surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, and specializes in making rosés. The actors, then husband and wife, purchased the château (where they were married in 2014) through their holding companies. The couple each owned 50% of the property and wine business at the time, and the wine brand became internationally successful, turning tens of millions in profit, the complaint explained. But Jolie's former holding company alleges that Pitt has been trying to destroy the business and has become a “hostile actor” since his acrimonious divorce with Jolie in 2016.
