‘In what is certainly one of the most drawn out, painstaking break ups in the history of Hollywood divorces, the latest chapter in the split between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is a dramatic one.

The former couple are in a legal battle over Jolie’s decision to sell her part of the French vineyard Chateau Miraval to a Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without telling Pitt, in 2021. The case – separate to their divorce, which is still yet to be finalised seven years since they first filed – has been full of dark twists and turns. 

Now, the judge has ruled that Jolie, 48, must hand over eight years’ worth of NDAs in the long-running saga surrounding the French property. According to documents filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Jolie must ‘produce, within 60 calendar days of this Order, all non-privileged documents in her possession, custody or control that are responsive to’ Pitt’s motion filed last month. 

This has come as a response to Jolie’s bombshell claims of emotional and physical abuse she says that she suffered during her 12 year relationship with Pitt, 60. A source close to Pitt told one US publication that the latest ruling a ‘significant blow to the credibility’ of Jolie’s claims, saying their ‘rhetoric” doesn’t match with “actual facts.’ However Paul Murphy, an attorney for Jolie, has said their side is actually ‘more than happy to turn over’ any documents that might be needed, People magazine reports. Though a source for Pitt is painting the ruling as a win, Murphy believes maintains the NDA request was really an effort to deflect attention from the ‘key issue’ — Pitt’s alleged abusive behaviour. 

‘Common NDAs are simply not comparable to Mr. Pitt’s last-second demand to try and cover up his personal misconduct,’ said Murphy, adding that the ruling ‘opens the door to discovery on all issues related to Pitt’s abuse.’ 

In papers filed last month, Jolie’s attorneys detailed, ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s plane trip from France to Los Angeles [in 2016],’ although they add that ‘this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well.’

Those court papers claimed that Jolie has evidence of ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of the family and abuse of Jolie’ and claims the children continue to experience ‘significant and ongoing post-traumatic stress’. Indeed An Instagram story thought to have been posted by the couple’s son Pax, 16, said the Hollywood star made his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear’ and made the lives of those closest to Pax ‘a constant hell’, according to a screengrab revealed in November last year. 

Attorneys for Jolie have referred to a ‘history of abuse, control and cover-ups’ and claim she has ‘testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence’ which, they say, will show how Pitt tried to conceal his behaviour if they come to trial. The actor’s denials of physical abuse are described in the court documents as ‘gaslighting’. 
Jolie has claimed in previous court documents that Pitt has been exerting ‘coercive’ financial control over her via their dispute over the Miraval wine-making business as their divorce has dragged on. Pitt, meanwhile, has denied all allegations of physical abuse and was not charged following an FBI probe into the incident on the flight.

Sources in Pitt’s camp, however, have said he sees Jolie’s claims of abuse as a direct response to his February win in the LA courts in this ongoing Mirval battle. The judge, Los Angeles Superior Court’s Judge John W. Ouderkirk, then determined that Jolie’s move to sell her share without Pitt’s consent breached their original agreement. The agreement explicitly required authorization for such transfers, and the judge deemed Jolie’s attempt a ‘strategic business decision’ necessitating Pitt’s approval.

Now with the latest filings, however, the case still doesn’t appear to be any closer to being settled – and Pitt and Jolie remain entangled in one another’s lives despite – by all accounts – being desperate to move on. Pitt is now said to be getting serious with his girlfriend Ines Ramon, who has been seen leaving his Los Angeles home on several occasions, and whom he has been linked to since last summer. Jolie, meanwhile, has made no secret of the fact she would love to travel – and even live abroad – once she is free to do so and her legal wrangling with her ex-husband is over once and for all.

For now, a source tells Grazia, Jolie is determined to keep a level head and be stalwart in her mission to get the result she believes to be ‘just and fair’. ‘Angelina has done a lot of healing and growing since she and Brad split, and it hasn’t been easy,’ says the source. ‘She wants these cases to be done and dusted – and she wants to walk away feeling like justice has been done.’