It's been almost eight years since Brangelina went back to being just Brad and Angelina. The couple – arguably the most famous in the world at the time – filed for divorce in August 2016 and it is still yet to be finalised. The crux of their dispute has become the ownership of their Chateau Miraval winery in the south of France, a battle which was dubbed The War of the Rosé by Vanity Fair magazine.
However, according to news site TMZ, after recently submitting new financial documents, the exes may be one step closer to finally becoming legally divorced. They have reportedly each disclosed their finances to the other party, which typically signals the end of a divorce settlement.
But why did Brad and Angelina's divorce take so long? Just what happened with Chateau Miraval? And are the former husband and wife currently on speaking terms? The answers to these questions are not straightforward - and the story of Brangelina's divorce is far darker than it first appeared to be.
The ins and outs of the Vanity Fair article
After a few weeks of 'helicopter-hopping' in 2008, Brad and Angelina bought a vineyard for $60m as a French hideaway and an opportunity for their kids to frolic about in the meadows, keep peacocks and chickens and make a small fortune off the local grapes.
The Vanity Fair article details the couple's French purchase from their first email enquiry to their enormous commercial success as wine suppliers, to the current legal battle over ownership which is stalling their divorce from being finalised.
In 2013, things were going extremely well and the first 6,000 bottles of Miraval Rosé sold out in five hours, but 'their union, initially so fruitful, would quickly sour'.
The article charts the rise and fall of their marital empire, and goes some way in explaining why they are still married despite filing for divorce in 2016. It explains how, having controversially fallen in love on the set of Mr & Mrs Smith (prompting Brad's infamous divorce from Jennifer Aniston), they quickly built a brand together – one that has since been destroyed.
Aside from their box office successes, Brad and Angelina set up the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to fund children's causes around the world, acquired a multi-million dollar estate and wine company in France and welcomed five new siblings for Angelina's first son Maddox. In 2014, they got married in an 'ancient chapel' in front of 20 guests and 'Miraval rosé was served at the reception, where Jolie sipped nonalcoholic Bosnian rose petal juice'.
At this time, Brad had 60% control of the vineyard, while Angelina had 40%, and sales had grown by 300%. It had an estimated worth of $164m, with Brad later transferring 10% to his wife so they were equal partners.
What is the Miraval vineyard lawsuit?
The rosé war commenced shortly after, when the asset proved to be a problem in their marriage. Angelina, according to the article, viewed the estate as a place for their family to spend time together and for her to hold UN meetings, whereas Brad had taken on a new identity as a farmer.
'He’d sit on a rock with his guitar and a smoke, his vineyards spreading out in all directions before him. He had a vision of turning Miraval into something beyond wine: an artist’s colony centred around Miraval Studios,' the article explains.
But things swiftly changed in September 2016 – supposedly after a year of built up tension – when the couple had an explosive argument in front of their kids on a plane back to California. Brad, who had allegedly been drinking on the flight despite maintaining that he 'stopped boozing' once he started a family, and Angelina were arguing when 'he became aggressive'. The interior of the plane was damaged (with repair bills costing $25,000), wine and beer were spilled and the children were reportedly terrified.
When the incident was reported, Brad was investigated by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, as well as the FBI because the alleged abuse took place on a plane. Five days later, Angelina filed for divorce. The children have never been back to Miraval to this day. While nothing came of the investigation, the couple remain separated and a judge ruled that the children have experienced 'lasting physical and mental trauma' as a result.
Six years later, someone called Jane Doe (who some believe is an alias for Angelina) filed a Freedom of Information request to access the FBI report. And so the wound was reopened.
Fast forward to February 2022 and Brad sued his estranged wife over their Miraval vineyard for, he claims, illegally selling her shares because they had supposedly agreed to not sell their shares without the other person's permission.
What did Angelina accuse Brad of?
In August 2022, a redacted version of the notorious FBI report circulated online and led to explosive allegations. Having been presented with Brad's lawsuit in February, Angelina cross-complained in October. 'When Pitt filed this lawsuit seeking to reassert control over Jolie’s financial life and compel her to rejoin her ex-husband as a frozen-out business partner, Pitt forced Jolie to publicly defend herself on these issues for the first time,' the cross-complaint said.
It was at this time that Angelina published 'her side of the story' and detailed the events of their plane ride 'in graphic terms' – something that had previously been kept out of the public eye. Her complaint states that after an argument between Brad and one of their children took place, the actor called Angelina into the bathroom of the plane and 'grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again'. It also states, 'Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop.'
Who has custody of the Jolie-Pitt kids?
Shortly after the incident took place, when she filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, Angelina requested full custody of their six children – Maddox, 21, Zahara, 18, Pax, 19, Shiloh, 17, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 14 – granting Brad visitation rights.
However, Brad wanted split custody in the divorce, and in September 2016 the couple reached a temporary agreement. 'Jolie would have full custody. Pitt could visit but only on several conditions. He had to agree to counselling and testing for alcohol and drugs, and the first meeting would be monitored by a therapist,' the Vanity Fair article states.
As things stand, three of the children are now over 18, but the rest live with Angelina in the US, and Pitt shares custody and visits them.
What are the latest developments?
In July 2023, Angelina filed new court documents accusing Brad of “looting” the vineyard. In the lawsuit, as reviewed by the Financial Times, Angelina's lawyers accuse Brad of acting like a "petulant child" and engaging in a "blatant money grab". They also refuted the image he presents as a winemaker, and said he "deals in illusions, not dirt and grapes".
“During the years that he allegedly ‘built’ the business, he filmed and appeared in dozens of movies, not to mention making countless promotional appearances, jetting-setting [sic] around the world for movie premieres, and attending Hollywood parties,” Angelina's lawyers have said. Brad Pitt's representatives are yet to respond to the claims.
So, are Brad and Angelina still married?
In April 2019, the couple were ruled legally single, but not yet divorced. The dispute over custody continued, and after months of back and forth, Miraval was brought into the fold too. This is the main reason why their divorce remains unresolved.
Apparently Brad had slowly frozen Angelina out of the estate's profits, prompting her decision to sell her shares. In February 2021, 'Pitt opted to buy her half of Miraval', and 'they agreed that he would pay Jolie $54.5 million for her entire interest, including undistributed profits'.
This deal may have gone ahead if it weren't for Angelina's cross-complaint stating that she and the children had been victims of domestic violence. Brad demanded these details were tied up in a non-disclosure agreement and Angelina refused. That October, she sold her shares to Tenute del Mondo for $67m. At the same time, Brad was granted 50:50 custody by the court.
In February 2022, Brad filed his lawsuit against Angelina and her holding company Nouvel regarding the sale. He claims that her actions prior to and post selling have been to deliberately inflict harm on him and threaten the business. Meanwhile, the buyers have claimed the opposite and said Brad 'has been waging a vindictive war against her and Nouvel, her former investment company'.
Just one month later, 'two court officers and an IT expert, armed with the French equivalent of a search warrant, drove through the gates and down the 2.5-mile road to Miraval' and the property was under siege. And as of this March, the 'procedure is pending before the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence'. As things stand, the future of Miraval and its shareholders, the outcome of Angelina's abuse claims, and the finalisation of their divorce, all remain unresolved. However, thanks to their mutual decision to disclose their finances to each other, they may be officially divorced soon.
What's clear is that this story is far more than 'another celebrity divorce'. Miraval may have been named the Most Desirable Provence Rosé Wine in the World, Brad's representative may have denied all claims of abuse, but Brangelina's legacy has been tarnished with tales of violence, vitriol and feuds over the profits of a vineyard that ultimately came to destroy their family.