Angelina Jolie accuses Brad Pitt of ‘physical and emotional abuse’ in bitter legal battle
The incident on the plane allegedly started after Pitt accused Jolie of being “too deferential” to their children. (Getty)
Angelina Jolie has filed a countersuit against ex-husband Brad Pitt accusing him of “physical and emotional abuse” during an alleged altercation between the pair in 2016.
The countersuit was filed in response to Pitt’s lawsuit against Jolie after she sold her half of Château Miraval, a French winery the two bought together several years prior while in a relationship.
According to the countersuit, first obtained by New York Times, Jolie’s lawyers claim negotiations around selling her half of the winery broke down.
This was because Pitt demanded she sign “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”.
‘Lunged at his own child’
The countersuit describes an incident that took place between Pitt, Jolie and their children on a private plane in September 2016.
“Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face”, the countersuit alleged, “[he] grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her. And then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall”.
At one point “he poured beer on Jolie” and “he poured beer and red wine on the children”.
Further details explain that after one of their children tried to “verbally defend Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child” and when Jolie tried to stop him by grabbing his back he “threw himself backwards” injuring her “back and elbows”.
At the time Jolie filed for divorce and put forward an anonymous 2016 lawsuit regarding this alleged incident which was followed up by the FBI, who chose to not pursue criminal charges.
According to the FBI report this was due to several reasons including Jolie feeling “conflicted on whether or not to be supportive of charges” related to the case.
‘The children were all frightened’
The incident on the plane was allegedly triggered after Pitt accused Jolie of being “too deferential” to their children. By the end of the flight “the children were all frightened. Many were crying”.
Since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce there has been a lengthy and public battle over custody of their children who are all now between the ages of 14 and 21.
When reports of the altercation first came to light in 2016, Pitt’s representatives issued a statement to People, saying: “He is emphatic that it did not reach the level of physical abuse, that no one was physically harmed.
“He did not hit his child in the face in any way. He did not do that; he is emphatic about that.”
