Brad Pitt Scores Win in Legal Battle with Angelina Jolie as Her Winery Buyers Are Ordered to Testify (Exclusive)
Brad Pitt Scores Win in Legal Battle with Angelina Jolie as Her Winery Buyers Are Ordered to Testify (Exclusive)
Jack Smart, Sean MandellFri, June 26, 2026 at 12:41 AM UTC
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Angelina Jolie; Brad PittCredit: Aurore Marechal/Getty; Dominique Charriau/WireImage -
Exes Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been embroiled in a years-long legal battle over Jolie's sale of her portion of Château Miraval, the French winery they co-owned, to the Stoli Group
New court documents obtained by PEOPLE reveal that courts have sided with Pitt and ordered members of The Stoli Group, including Alexey Oliynik, to testify about the sale
A source tells PEOPLE that Stoli Group owner Yuri Shefler “was a partner [Jolie] chose knowing it was a partner Brad did not want involved in the business," while a Jolie source says Pitt's "ego and obsession for control got in the way"
Brad Pitt has scored a win in his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Angelina Jolie over Château Miraval.
In a June 17 court document obtained by PEOPLE, the Superior Court of California granted a motion from Pitt's legal team compelling depositions from members of the Stoli Group. Investors from the spirits and wine giant, Pitt had argued, had firsthand knowledge of Jolie's 2021 sale of the French winery the former couple co-owned to Tenute del Mondo, the wine division of the Stoli Group.
Pitt, 62, had filed court documents attempting to depose the Stoli Group's Alexey Oliynik in June 2025. Oliynik has allegedly refused to turn over relevant documents or appear for a deposition, arguing that he could not be forced to do so as a resident of Switzerland.
The Stoli Group is run by Yuri Shefler, a Russian expatriate billionaire also living in Switzerland. In 2023, amid their legal battle, Pitt sued Jolie, seeking damages over her sale to Shefler's "Russia-affiliated spirits conglomerate," per those documents.
The Stoli Group, Pitt's team argued, "has been the subject of repeated boycotts in connection with Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and homophobic legislative Agenda.” The actor's legal team alleged at the time that Jolie's sale "jeopardizes the reputation of the business that Pitt so carefully built."
Angelina Jolie; Brad PittCredit: Michael Loccisano/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
The Couture star then filed documents criticizing Pitt and calling those categorizations of Shefler, a "Russian exile who is a long-time critic of Vladimir Putin,” a "xenophobic, untrue smear campaign.”
New documents filed in June indicate that the depositions of Oliynik and “persons most qualified” from Stoli Group's wine division Tenute del Mondo B.V. and Nouvel LLC — the company that Jolie, 50, sold to Tenute del Mondo — must now occur in London by Sept. 30.
PEOPLE has reached out to lawyers for Oliynik for comment.
Château MiravalCredit: MICHEL GANGNE/AFP via Getty
Further, on Wednesday, June 24, California's Court of Appeals filed a reversal of its decision regarding Shefler's involvement in the Château Miraval sale. The court found that despite his claim of a "minimal role" in the winery sale, “It defies credulity that Shefler, a sophisticated businessman, would risk almost $40 million on a transaction about which he knew nothing and with which he had no involvement.”
A hearing on a motion to compel deposition from Shefler will take place on July 8.
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“This win is another step towards transparency over what took place,” a source close to Pitt tells PEOPLE exclusively. Shefler, they claim, “was a partner [Jolie] chose knowing it was a partner Brad did not want involved in the business."
Another insider tells PEOPLE that Jolie had agreed that Pitt “would have first right of refusal” over the sale, “then sold to Shefler anyway.”
The recent court rulings mean that members of the Stoli Group, including possibly Shefler, “will have to explain exactly how the deal was orchestrated," the source says.
Brad Pitt; Angelina JolieCredit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Jolie tells PEOPLE that recent rulings have “no impact on the merits of the case, and certainly has no impact on Ms. Jolie's case. At this point, Ms. Jolie is just looking forward to defeating the case at trial next year so that their family can finally focus their energies on healing and moving on.”
A source close to the Maria star says that Jolie “did not sell to Stoli for any reason other than she expected Stoli to be an excellent world-wide distribution partner who could help grow the business for the benefit of their children, who stood to inherit Brad's portion.”
They add, “The truth is that Pitt's ego and obsession for control got in the way. Brad refused to work with Stoli simply because Angie chose them, not him.”
The two Oscar-winning actors, who share six kids, kicked off their legal battle in February 2022 when Pitt's lawsuit alleged that Jolie sold her share of Château Miraval despite a prior agreement that neither would do so unless the other person approved.
She responded with a countersuit in September 2022, claiming the Ocean's Eleven star has been "waging a vindictive war against" her since she filed for divorce in 2016 following two years of marriage. (The exes reached a divorce settlement in December 2024.)
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
