Brad Pitt spent up to 12 hours a day working on the vineyards and farms at Chateau Miraval in France, turning it into a "love letter" to his now estranged ex-wife Angelina Jolie and their six children, a new report has claimed.
Vanity Fair's expose comes as the pair's ongoing legal battles continue; they were declared legally single in 2019 but their divorce has not been finalized, and Angelina has sole custody of their children, and Brad has visitation rights. However their legal dispute now centers over their former winery, Château Miraval, which is located in Correns, France, about one hour east of Aix-en-Provence.
"Miraval was a love letter to his wife and his children, providing a beautiful life for Angelina and the kids and shielding them from the intense pressures of celebrity,” furniture designer Frank Pollaro told the publication.
Gary Bradbury, the head of security, added that Brad would spend all day working alongside the "architects, designers, stonemasons, plumbers, and electricians" before breaking at 1pm to enjoy lunch, where he would often "take the kids fishing on the lake".
"Angie would come out and bring lunch and we’d all sit there and have a picnic. It was very lovey-dovey, quite romantic. I used to take my sandwich and walk away. It was their time," Bradbury shared.
The two also revealed how the grounds became the 59-year-old's "secret garden, a place where he could be himself," often enjoying hikes or jogs in the local neighborhoods.
Angelina, 48, and Brad took control of the company, which is best known for its award-winning rosé, when they moved into the main villa in 2008 and purchased the company for $25 million; the two were married there in 2014, and the nuptials were covered by HELLO!
"It is now impossible to write this without crying," the report claims Angelina wrote in an email to Brad in 2021, four years after she filed for divorce, as she shared her decision to sell her stake.
"Above all, it is the place we brought the twins home to, and where we were married over a plaque in my mother’s memory. A place…where I thought I would grow old…. But it is also the place that marks the beginning of the end of our family."
Brad opted to buy her half for a sum of $54.5 million but in the deal was a nondisclosure agreement that, Angelina alleged in a filing, would "prohibit Jolie from discussing outside of court any of Pitt’s personal conduct toward her or the family".
She called it an "unconscionable gag order," and when she refused "Pitt walked away from the deal".
The philanthropist then sold her stake to a group called Tenute del Mondo, but the Oscar-winning actor has claimed that the sale was made in violation of an agreement that neither party would sell without the other's approval.
The ongoing saga has since seen Brad file an amended complaint against his ex-wife and the new owners, as he continues to attempt to have the sale reversed.
The filing read in part: “Jolie, though supportive of Pitt's efforts on behalf of the family, did none of the work necessary for Miraval's success. Instead, she allowed Pitt to pour money and sweat equity into the business in reliance on her promise to hold Miraval together, as well as the contractual rights her holding company Nouvel owed his.
"By the time of their separation, Pitt's investment exceeded Jolie's by nearly $50 million. In the summer of 2021, amid a heated child custody dispute with Pitt, Jolie terminated those discussions [about selling to Brad Pitt] and secretly purported to sell a 50 per cent stake in the family home and family business to Tenute del Mondo.”
In response, Paul Murphy, Angelia's attorney, responded in a statement that read: "Still today and in the seven years since that fateful plane ride, he personally has never publicly denied that it happened. The reality is that Pitt refused to complete the Miraval sale with Jolie unless she agreed to being silenced about the abuse."
Brad's lawyers did not offer a statement, but in October 2022, said: "Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do."