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Angelina Jolie details Brad Pitt’s plane abuse allegations in new filing

October 5, 2022

Shortly after Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt announced a divorce in September 2016, allegations surfaced in the media about a robbery days earlier in which Pitt was allegedly intoxicated and reportedly began acting aggressively towards Jolie and their children. At the time, there was little official information about the alleged incident, other than confirmation that the FBI was investigating.

In November, the FBI completed its review of the incident and said no charges would be filed. But in a counter-complaint Jolie filed Tuesday in an ongoing civil case involving a French winery the couple shared, Jolie detailed her version of events during the Sept. 14, 2016, flight from France to Los Angeles. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, says the alleged incident prompted Jolie to split from Pitt, whom she married in 2014.

Pitt’s attorneys did not respond to emails from The Washington Post on Tuesday. A rep for Pitt declined to comment.

The counterclaim claims that during the overnight flight to Los Angeles from their shared vineyard and home, Chateau Miraval, Pitt became “physically and emotionally abusive toward Jolie and their children.” Pitt and Jolie have six children, but it’s unclear how many were on the flight.

The filing claims that after the flight took off, Jolie approached Pitt to ask why he had been upset earlier in the day. Pitt then accused her of being “too deferential” to their children, who were also on the flight, the new document states. About an hour and a half later, according to the counterclaim, Pitt demanded that Jolie come to the back of the plane with him, where he pulled her into the bathroom and began yelling at her.

“Pitt grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, then grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her again before pushing her against the bathroom wall,” the filing reads.

He further claims that Jolie left the bathroom after Pitt repeatedly hit the ceiling of the plane. When one of the kids asked if Jolie was okay, Pitt replied, “No, mom isn’t okay,” while hurling insults at Jolie, according to the cross-complaint.

One of the children also verbally defended Jolie, prompting Pitt to lunge at the child, according to the filing. When Jolie tried to grab Pitt from behind to stop her, Pitt “thrown” backwards toward the plane’s seats, which injured Jolie’s back and elbow, she claims in the document.

“The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other,” the counterclaim states, adding, “Before it was over, Pitt strangled one of the children and punched another in the Some of the kids begged Pitt to stop.

“They were all scared,” the complaint adds. “Many were crying.”

Jolie and the children then “sat still and silent under blankets” as Pitt remained in the back of the plane, only emerging to “scream and swear” at Jolie and the children, Jolie claims.

“At one point he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine over the children,” the filing reads.

Once the plane landed and Jolie told Pitt she was going to stay with the kids at a hotel, Pitt pushed Jolie and yelled that no one was getting off the plane, according to the new document, which states that Pitt kept the family from getting turned off for about 20 minutes. The counterclaim says that after the family exited the plane, Pitt again physically injured Jolie and one of the children before Jolie and the children left.

The filing says the day of the robbery took place when “Jolie’s marriage ended.”

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Five days later, Jolie filed for divorce, the document says. He further claims that the FBI agent who investigated the alleged incident “concluded that the government had probable cause to charge Pitt with a federal felony for his conduct that day.”

The FBI investigated because they have jurisdiction over the thefts. The FBI and US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment.

When the FBI announced that no charges would be filed, it gave no reasoning but said its agents would have consulted with the US Attorney’s office before making a decision.

Tuesday’s filing is just the latest legal salvo in the acrimonious split of the couple once called “Brangelina.” The counterclaim follows a lawsuit filed by Pitt alleging that Jolie improperly sold her stake in Château Miraval, which the complaint says the couple bought in 2008, to a subsidiary of the Stoli Group, the spirits company. Jolie counters that she was well within her rights to make the sale. The filing says Stoli paid him $67 million.

The counterclaim claims that Jolie initially tried to sell her stake to Pitt, but he conditioned a deal on her signing a “non-disparagement clause that would have prohibited her from speaking outside of court about physical abuse and Pitt’s emotional feelings towards Jolie and their children.”

He adds that Pitt’s lawsuit against Jolie over the sale of her stake forced her to divulge her memories of the theft.

“Jolie has never explained publicly before why she and Pitt got to this point – why they divorced, why she and the children couldn’t return to Chateau Miraval, why she had to sell her stake in Chateau Miraval. — and she went to great lengths to prevent their children from reliving the pain Pitt inflicted on the family that day,” the document reads.