The legal battle between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over Chateau Miraval continues to divulge details of the warring couple’s personal lives.
In the latest filing in the winery war, a former guard for the couple alleges in a declaration that Jolie was “overheard” by security staffers telling the couple’s kids to avoid Pitt during custody visits with their dad.
Tony Webb — a veteran of the UK’s Royal Marines and British Army’s Special Air Service who later went into private security — says in court documents filed on Thursday by Pitt’s lawyers that, “Between 2000 and 2020, I provided varying degrees of personal security for Angelina Jolie and her family, and I currently provide services for Brad Pitt.”
Webb alleges that his job when he worked for the couple included, “running security for [Jolie] and
the family whenever they left the United States,” as well as getting people to sign NDAs for Jolie, including hotel staffers.
After Pitt and Jolie split in 2016, Webb’s firm, SRS Global, continued to provide security for the “Maleficent” star and her children. (The stars were in a nearly five year legal battle for custody of their six kids.)
Webb recalls that after Pitt and Jolie broke up, his business relationship with Jolie went south when Webb was told by Jolie’s assistant, Michael Vieira, that two independent contractors for his security firm “might be testifying in the family court case.”
Webb says in the court docs that Jolie’s assistant then, “asked me to stop these two individuals from testifying. I understood that Mr. Viera was making this request on behalf of Ms. Jolie.”
Webb adds that, “I explained to Mr. Vieira that I had no power to stop them because they were independent contractors and not employees of SRS Global. Mr. Vieira then told me that his call should serve as a reminder that those individuals had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Ms. Jolie and that I should remind them of that and tell them that if they testified in the family law case, Ms. Jolie would sue them.”
Webb further states in LA Superior Court papers filed by Pitt’s lawyers, “I communicated this message to the two individuals over the phone and they both told me that they planned to testify. One of the two individuals, Ross Foster, specified that he intended to testify regardless of the NDA, if he received a court subpoena. When Mr. Foster told me this, he also told me that if asked, he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.”
He says that in the end, “I understand that Mr. Foster and the other individual mentioned above were, in fact, subpoenaed, and that both did, in fact, testify in the Jolie/Pitt family law case.”
The latest allegations stem from the couple’s battle over NDAs.
Last month Jolie’s side argued in court papers that she shouldn’t have to turn over all her past NDAs to her ex in their epic war over their $500 million winery.
She claimed that Pitt wanted her to sign an unfairly “onerous” and “expansive” NDA, “covering Pitt’s personal misconduct, whether related to Miraval or not,” in order for her to sell her stake to him.
The exes’ deal fell through over the NDA, she claims, before Jolie then instead sold her shares to a Stoli subsidiary. She has also alleged that he he was trying to silence her from speaking about allegations he was abusive to her and their family.
But Pitt alleges she unfairly sold the stake out from under him. As part of their ongoing legal war, Pitt, 60, wants Jolie, 48, to hand over all her past NDAs — which she has argued against in court docs.
Pitt’s side says in their latest court papers that Jolie has hatched a “ploy to turn this business dispute into a sideshow about family court matters.”
And that, “Her hook is to allege that she was justified in terminating an imminent deal for Pitt to purchase her interest in Château Miraval, and in doing so breach her obligations not to sell to a stranger without his consent, because Pitt’s lawyers asked for an NDA to be included in the deal papers.”
His side further says that, “Jolie then uses Pitt’s NDA proposal as an excuse to introduce into this case the unfortunate circumstances related to the dissolution of the couple’s marriage, claiming that the proposal engendered an ’emotionally devastating’ reaction in her that caused her to back out of the deal and sell to Stoli because it would have purportedly silenced her ability to speak about the personal matters.”
Pitt’s legal filing by John Berlinski of Bird Marella argues that, “Jolie apparently thinks she can gain a tactical litigation advantage if she makes this case about family issues, so she has turned the NDA proposal into the very heart of this case.”
Jolie’s reps did not immediately comment.
Pitt is asking the court to unwind Jolie’s 2021 sale of her stake in Chateau Miraval to Stoli billionaire Yuri Shefler claiming it breached an agreement the pair had in place for her to sell to him.
A hearing in the LA case is taking place on May 16, we’ve reported. A full trial is not expected this year.
The Miraval case is also playing out in a Luxembourg court as well.
The Hollywood exes have been fighting over the vineyard they purchased in 2008 ever since Jolie filed for divorce in 2016.
The duo was married at the same French estate, but Jolie and the kids have not gone back since 2016.
Paul Murphy, an attorney for Jolie, said in a statement: “Mr. Pitt’s continued attempt to equate common NDAs for security personnel and housekeepers covering confidential information employees learn at work, with him demanding an expanded NDA to ensure the continued coverup of his deplorable actions remains shameful. This case is not about NDAs in general, but about power and control. All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt. She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.”
