In response to extensive abuse charges made this week in a legal declaration filed by Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Angelina Jolie, Pitt’s attorney said Pitt isn’t about to admit any of the claims are untrue. Jolie’s lawyer added his own remarks to the argument on Friday.
Pitt’s attorney Anne Kiley said in a statement to The Times on Thursday that Brad “has owned everything he’s accountable for from day one — unlike the other side — but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do.”
Even though Jolie’s accusations made a lot of news this week, they are not very fresh. Nearly identical to those identified in an FBI document made public in August, the ones in this week’s submission have one important addition: In the document filed on Tuesday, Jolie claimed Pitt had choked one of his kids in the 2016 episode that led to their divorce while travelling on a private jet from France to the U.S. It also claims that Pitt hit another child in the face while intoxicated.
Soon after that flight, right around the time the “Girl, Interrupted” actor filed for divorce, the FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services both looked into Jolie’s claims. Neither on the recommendation of DCFS nor at the request of the US attorney’s office, Pitt was never charged in relation to the incident.
The Times reported in 2016 that there had been no allegations of punching or hitting. After “boozing too much” while he was married to Jolie, Pitt admitted to GQ in 2017 that he had stopped drinking.
Brad Pitt will continue to reply in court as he has in the past, according to Kiley, who said in a statement on Thursday that Pitt “has been on the receiving end of every form of personal attack and deception” since then.
Pitt’s representative declined to make any additional comments.
Paul Murphy, a Jolie lawyer, disagreed with the Pitt camp’s assertion late on Friday.
“It is obvious that none of the extremely significant allegations in our Cross-Complaint were addressed in the carefully phrased statement by Brad Pitt’s divorce lawyer, Ms. Kiley. The abuse of Mr. Pitt’s children has been alleged, and he has not refuted any particular allegations of his reprehensible behaviour, the speaker stated. “Instead, he is continuing, as he has for the past six years, his attempts to mislead and distract,”
Eve Sheedy, a former executive director of the L.A. County Domestic Violence Council and director of domestic violence policy at the L.A. City Attorney’s office, said on Friday that it was common for an abusive partner to “seek to exercise power and control” through methods other than physical force, such as managing finances and making decisions. Pitt and Jolie’s situation is one in which this is common practise.
Sheedy added in a statement that it takes strength for any survivor to come out and describe acts of abuse that were both horrific and deadly, especially those like Ms. Jolie who are the focus of intense public scrutiny. General generic denials of guilt and attempts to place blame on others represent another technique that can be used to further influence survivors in situations where specific behaviour is under question.
In an effort to reverse the sale of her share of Chateau Miraval and its winery to Tenute del Mondo, a division of Stoli Group, Jolie included the specific abuse claims in a counterclaim to a breach of contract case Pitt brought against her in February. Pitt said in the lawsuit that the pair agreed that neither would sell their respective shares without the consent of the other.
No such written, oral, or inferred agreement has ever existed, according to Jolie’s cross-claim.
Due to convoluted ownership before Pitt and Jolie took control, the 2008 purchase of Chateau Miraval was “meticulously documented by counsel from at least three nations,” according to the application. The article then quotes Brad Pitt, Pitt’s vice president of business affairs, as saying, “Early in the process I highlighted the idea of a purchase / sell agreement between A & B but was assured by Brad that wasn’t necessary for two reasonable persons to have such an agreement.”
The “Maleficent” actor said in the document that talks between her and Pitt about giving him her half of the property fell through when he insisted she sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of the sale.
According to rumours, the NDA would have precluded her from talking about any specifics of what happened on the 2016 flight in the future.
This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
