Angelina Jolie has been ordered to turn over eight years’ worth of non-disclosure agreements she signed as part of her winery fight with Brad Pitt.
The “Maleficent” actress, 48, and the “Fight Club” star, 60, have spent years locked in a battle over ownership of their $500 million (R9 billion) winery, Château Miraval.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has made the NDA ruling in the latest development in the battle over the French vineyard.
It has been ruled that in the next month, Jolie must produce “all non-privileged documents in her possession, custody, or control that are responsive to a request by Pitt’s side to show any of the papers she has signed”.
A source from Pitt’s team told Page Six the latest ruling was a “crushing blow” after Jolie’s side had argued in court papers that turning over her previous NDAs as part of the case would be “expensive”, “wasteful,” “unreasonable” and “abusive”.
Jolie’s lawyers also previously argued in court documents that turning over other NDAs she has signed would be an invasion of privacy for other parties.
It’s understood the documents would include NDAs with Hollywood employers, brands and employees.
Her side said in legal papers that they might contain “contracts that include Jolie’s compensation or compensation she paid to third parties”.
The new judge’s order also said that the actress’s side should provide a list of any documents she deemed as privileged in the case, so that Pitt’s team could “evaluate the merits of Jolie’s assertions of privilege”.
Lawyers for Pitt, who divorced Jolie in 2019, filed papers in April, asking his ex to reveal how many NDAs she had asked her employees to sign.
The move came after the actress accused him of trying to use what she branded a way to “control” her.
Jolie has sold her shares in the winery to a Stoli Group subsidiary – a deal Brad said was unfair.
A source added to Page Six: “The (new) ruling is the latest in a series of pre-trial victories for Pitt.”
Jolie’s attorney Paul Murphy said it was a win for his side, saying: “Common NDAs are simply not comparable to Mr Pitt’s last-second demand to try and cover up his personal misconduct.
“We are more than happy to turn them over and we are gratified that the court acknowledged that the only potential relevance is to the unconscionability of Mr Pitt’s conduct, a now confirmed key issue in this case.
“We welcome that transparency in all parties’ discovery responses, including Mr Pitt’s. Angelina looks forward to the eventual end of this litigation with its false narratives that continue to hurt the family and interfere with their ability to heal.”