Brad Pitt will “respond in court” to Angelina Jolie’s claims he was violent towards their kids.
The ‘Maleficent’ actress claimed in legal documents earlier this week that her ex-husband had “choked” one of their children and “struck another in the face” during a flight from France to California in September 2016, and while the ‘Bullet Train’ star’s attorney slammed the claims as a “personal attack” and insisted he hadn’t been violent towards his brood, his team will seemingly use legal channels to clarify his version of events.
Brad’s attorney, Anne Kiley, told E! News in a statement: “Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one—unlike the other side—but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do. He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.
“Thankfully, the various public authorities the other side has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions.
“Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.”
Angelina made the abuse claim as part of her cross complaint in the former couple’s legal battle over Château Miraval, the winery they once owned together.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the ‘Tomb Raider’ actress – who has Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with Brad – claimed negotiations to sell her share of the alcohol business to her ex-husband broke down over his demand that she sign “a nondisclosure agreement that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children.”
The filing goes onto describe an alleged outburst from Brad as the family flew from France to California in September 2016, which allegedly began when the ‘Moneyball’ star accused his then-wife of being “too deferential” to the children before yelling at her in the bathroom.
The 58-year-old star then allegedly lunged at one of his children when they came to defend their mother,prompting her to grab him from behind.
The documents continued: “To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow.
“The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop.
“At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children.”
In September 2016, the ‘Fight Club’ actor was investigated by the FBI over the incident but they ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges.
However, in the new countersuit, Angelina’s legal team insisted the agent who investigated the allegations had “probable cause to charge Pitt with a federal crime for his conduct that day.”
Brad sued his ex-wife – who filed for divorce days after the alleged incident – and her former company in February after she sold her stake in the wine business to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, despite an apparent understanding neither party would sell without the consent of the other.
But last month, the 47-year-old actress’ former company, which is now owned by Stoli Group, countersued her ex-husband, rebutting his version of events.