Angelina Jolie details Brad Pitt abuse allegations in court filing

Angelina Jolie has detailed what she described as abusive behaviour by ex-husband Brad Pitt in a court filing, escalating a legal battle over a French winery the former couple once shared and revealing new details about the dissolution of their marriage.

The filing in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday alleges that Pitt sought to condition Jolie's sale of her stake in the winery on a nondisclosure agreement that would have barred her from publicly discussing "Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children."

Jolie's filing describes an episode during a September 2016 private plane flight where Pitt allegedly "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her" before "pushing her into the bathroom wall."

Pitt also "choked one of the children and struck another in the face," the filing alleges.

Jolie gave an account of the flight to two FBI investigators in the days that followed.

It appeared in a heavily redacted report later released by the agency.

The filing advances counterclaims against Pitt in a lawsuit he filed against Jolie and her former company in February.

READ MORE: Brad Pitt sues ex-wife Angelina Jolie over selling her vineyard share

'Unconscionable gag order'

Pitt alleges that Jolie's September 2021 sale of her stake in the Chateau Miraval winery to an international beverage company was unlawful because the pair had agreed they would never sell their interests without the other's consent.

Jolie said in her Tuesday filing that no such agreement existed and that Pitt had refused to buy her out unless she consented to "an unconscionable gag order" regarding his conduct.

In her filing, Jolie also said the FBI probed the incident on the plane and "concluded that the government had probable cause to charge Pitt with a federal crime."

A representative for Pitt, who was not authorised to speak publicly, strongly denied Jolie's allegations and called them "another rehash that only harms the family."

Pitt has not been charged with a crime, and an FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 47-year-old Oscar-winning actor and director Jolie and the 58-year-old Oscar-winning actor Pitt were among Hollywood's most prominent couples for 12 years.

They had been romantic partners for a decade when they married in 2014.

Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and a judge declared them single in 2019, but the divorce case has not been finalised with custody and financial issues still in dispute.