The vineyard legal drama between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has just added another very expensive chapter, and this round went to Jolie.
A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that Pitt cannot force Jolie to hand over private communications related to their bitter fight at the Château Miraval winery, agreeing with his claim that the messages are protected by attorney-client privilege.
In the ruling, Judge Ciny Pánuco said Pitt “has not met his burden” of showing that the emails should lose that protection. Translation? The inbox remains locked.
Jolie’s lawyer, Paul Murphy, wasted no time celebrating the decision, calling it “a significant victory for Ms. Jolie.”
He also accused Pitt of going “completely out of bounds” by trying to access “obviously privileged documents,” adding that “this is part of Mr. Pitt’s pattern of demanding control over anything from Angelina.”
Meanwhile, a source close to Pitt responded by saying: “The judge allowed Pitt’s team to revisit [the decision] as the evidence develops,” while arguing that Jolie has withheld “as many privileged documents.”
If all this seems like a warehouse dispute and more like an endless prestige television drama… same thing.
The battle over Château Miraval first erupted in 2022 after Pitt sued Jolie over the sale of her stake in the French winery. Jolie responded by claiming that Pitt had been “waging a vengeful war against” her.
The case has since spiraled into allegations involving non-disclosure agreements, missing documents, millions in damages and references to the infamous 2016 private jet incident.
And despite finalizing their divorce in 2024, Brangelina’s legal era apparently still has several seasons left.
