Angelina Jolie is detailing for the first time what allegedly went down on the infamous 2016 plane flight that led to her divorce from Brad Pitt.
In court papers filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the actress claims “Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face.” Jolie alleges her ex-husband “grabbed” her head and “shook her,” according to the document obtained by the New York Times. At one point during the flight from France to California, the Oscar-winning actor supposedly dumped alcohol on her and the kids. Pitt sources have long denied he was physically abusive toward Jolie or their six children.
Jolie’s cross complaint against Pitt is part of the former couple’s battle over their French winery, Château Miraval. Pitt claimed in court that Jolie was not entitled to sell her half of the company to liquor giant Stoli without offering him first of right refusal. In Tuesday’s filing, lawyers for Jolie claim negotiations with Pitt stalled over his request she sign a “a nondisclosure agreement that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children.”
Reps for Pitt did not respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
No one is disputing something went down on the private plane in 2016 — but each star’s account appears to be wildly different. Although Pitt has not directly commented about the alleged incident, he got sober shortly after Jolie filed for divorce and spent a year and a half attending Alcoholics Anonymous. The FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation as to what happened in the air and Pitt, who cooperated with the investigation, was ultimately cleared of child abuse allegations.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment and the FBI did not immediately return Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
However, Jolie says in her new filing that the FBI agent who investigated the incident “concluded that the government had probable cause to charge Pitt with a federal crime for his conduct that day.” The agent apparently provided the United States Attorney’s Office copies of a probable cause statement. A redacted FBI report that was leaked in August — which described the actress as “conflicted on whether or not to be supportive of charges” related to the case — detailed Jolie’s allegations that Pitt physically and verbally assaulted their family. This is the first time anyone has heard it directly from the actress, though.
Puck News reported Jolie had been seeking information about the FBI’s case as an anonymous plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. On Tuesday, journalist Matthew Belloni tweeted Team Jolie “has been debating for years over whether to go” public with the Pitt accusations. In the cross complaint, Jolie’s attorneys say her hand was forced.
“She has gone to great lengths to try to shield their children from reliving the pain Pitt inflicted on the family that day,” Jolie’s attorneys state. “But 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.”
Jolie claims in the documents the 2016 fight between her and Pitt began when he accused her of being “too deferential” to their children. He allegedly began yelling at her in the bathroom.
“Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall,” the filing states. “Pitt then punched the ceiling of the plane numerous times, prompting Jolie to leave the bathroom.”
One of the children apparently came to Jolie’s defense and she claims Pitt attacked the kid, so she grabbed Pitt from behind. Jolie alleges Pitt “choked” one of the kids and “struck another in the face.” The lawsuit claims “he poured beer on Jolie” and at another point, “he poured beer and red wine on the children.”
Jolie and Pitt were together for more than a decade. She filed for divorce and full custody after the incident in 2016. They share six children: Maddox, now 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, 14.
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