Angelina Jolie Recalls 'Traumatic Period' Of Divorce With Brad Pitt, Giving Up Control Of Family Homes To 'Make Him Calmer'

Angelina Jolie said she's been avoiding several "painful" things connected with her and ex-husband Brad Pitt's legal battle that led to their divorce. Looking back at what led her to break up with the actor,

Jolie recalled the sale of her interests in the French winery Château Miraval which she once shared with Pitt. The 50-year-old revealed that neither she not her six children have visited the winery ever since she parted ways with him in 2016.Jolie and Pitt share six kids: Maddox (24), Pax (21) and Zahara (20) who are adopted, and Shiloh (19) and twins Vivienne and Knox (17) who are their biological offsprings.

Jolie did not visit the winery during 'traumatic period'

According to E! News, Jolie wrote in a personal declaration submitted to a California court on October 9, "The events leading to my need to separate from my ex-husband were emotionally difficult for me and our children.""Upon filing for divorce, I left him control (and full residency) of our family homes in Los Angeles and at Miraval, without compensation, which I hoped would make him calmer in his dealings with me after a difficult and traumatic period," Jolie added. "To this day, the children and I have never again set foot on the property, given its connection to the painful events leading to the divorce."

Miraval was one of their first investments

Jolie stated in the court documents that she and Pitt began "to have on-again, off-again discussions" in early 2017 with regard to him buying her shares in the estate. She said, "These discussions were always difficult for me, due to my deep emotional ties to our family home there and how our relationship ended. Miraval was one of the first major investments we made together, and it was a focal point of our family life. We were married there, I spent part of my pregnancy there and I brought our twin children home there from the hospital. "To have such a sudden break from my home and memories has been hard, and it was especially difficult for the children to have their lives so disrupted."ALSO READ: Brad Pitt To Marry For Third Time? Sources Say F1 Actor 'Loves Being With' Ines de Ramon

'Expanded NDA' to 'silence' her

Jolie alleged that Pitt eventually agreed to buy off her shares in exchange for an "expanded NDA" that would "silence" her from speaking about the reason behind their divorce."As the mother of our children, as well as an advocate for victims of violence around the world. I found his demand extremely painful. I could not agree to this coercive demand," Jolie wrote in her court declaration, stating she "notified Pitt and his attorneys that she planned on selling her shares of Miraval to a third party instead."Jolie ultimately finalised the deal with Stoli Group's Tenute del Mondo in 2021, which was eventually challenged by Pitt who claimed that she sold her interest without his permission.