Angelina Jolie will have to turn over all the non-disclosure agreements she has signed in the past eight years as part of her ongoing legal battle with Brad Pitt over their fancy French winery.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the “Maleficent” star must “produce” within the next month “all non-privileged documents in her possession, custody, or control that are responsive to” a request by Pitt’s side to show any NDAs she has signed.
The Oscar winning couple have been locked in a years-long battle over their divorce — including ownership of their $500 million winery, Château Miraval.
A Pitt source declared the latest ruling as a “crushing blow” after Jolie’s side had previously argued in court papers that turning over her past NDAs would be “expensive,” “wasteful,” “unreasonable” — and even “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.
The documents would presumably include NDAs with Hollywood employers, brands and employees, and the documents could contain “contracts that include Jolie’s compensation or compensation she paid to third parties,” her side said in court papers.
The new judge’s order also said that Jolie’s side should provide a list of any documents she deems as privileged in the case, so that Pitt’s team can “evaluate the merits of Jolie’s assertions of
privilege.”
Pitt’s lawyers filed papers in April asking Jolie to reveal just how many NDAs she has asked staffers to sign, after she accused him of trying to use what she said was an overreaching agreement to “control” her, we reported.
Jolie’s side has claimed in court filings that Pitt wanted her to sign an unfairly “onerous” and “expansive” NDA, “covering Pitt’s personal misconduct, whether related to Miraval or not,” in order for her to sell her stake to him.
The exes’ deal for Jolie to sell her half of the winery to Pitt fell through, she has claimed in legal docs, over the unfair NDA.
Jolie then sold her shares to a Stoli Group subsidiary.
But Pitt has opposed the Stoli deal and alleged she unfairly sold the stake out from under him.
A source said that, “The [latest] ruling is the latest in a series of pre-trial victories for Pitt.”
But Jolie’s attorney, Paul Murphy, countered that it was a win for his side, saying in a statement: “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.”
He added, “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.”
A source close to Jolie also insisted that the NDAs will “never see the light of day at trial.”
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