Angelina Jolie encouraged children to shun father Brad Pitt during custody visits, bodyguard says
10 May 2024, 09:34 | Updated: 10 May 2024, 09:37
Angelina Jolie encouraged her children to shun their father, Brad Pitt, during custody visits, a court has heard.
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The Hollywood actress attempted to drive a wedge between her ex-husband and her six children, it is claimed, following the couple's high-profile split.
It comes amid a high-profile legal dispute about Jolie's sale of the French Chateau Miraval winery the couple owned together - dubbed 'War of the Rosés'.
The Tomb Raider star sold her $62million stake to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler in 2021. Pitt is arguing that the sale went against their agreement to offer the other the right of first refusal.
During the legal dispute, the family's former bodyguard Tony Webb told an LA Superior Court that former colleague Ross Foster overheard Jolie telling her kids not to spend time with their father.
Webb said he was told the information by Foster despite the bodyguards being bound by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) on entering the family's employment.
Jolie and Pitt have six children: Maddox, 22; Pax, 20; Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 17; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15.
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Webb's statement read: “He also told me.. he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr Pitt during custody visits."
Former SAS soldier Webb - who owns the firm SRS Global Security Ltd - was fired by Jolie after it emerged that Foster and another security guard he hired were planning on giving evidence in the couple's custody battle.
Webb claimed Jolie's personal assistant Michael Viera begged the security guard to stop his two colleagues from testifying, warning that the actress may sue them.
“My work with Jolie began as individual assignments, typically on movie sets. In or around 2012, however, my work for her increased and I began running security for her and her family whenever they left the United States.
"Based on my close contact with Ms Jolie's family, including Mr Pitt, I became aware that Ms Jolie and Mr Pitt were divorcing in or around 2016.
"After their divorce, SRS Global and I continued to provide security for Ms Jolie, Mr Pitt and their children."
He continued: “Shortly before two SRS Global contractors testified in a court case that I understood was related to Ms Jolie and Mr Pitt's divorce and the custody of their children, Mr Vieira called me on my cell phone.
"Mr Viera told me that he had heard that two contractors who had provided personal security for Ms Jolie through SRS Global might be testifying in the family court case.
"Mr Vieira then asked me to stop the two individuals from testifying. I understood that Mr Vieira was making this request on behalf of Ms Jolie."
He said he explained to Viera that he had no power to stop the two security guards because they were independent contractors and not employees of SRS Global. She then said Jolie may sue them due to being bound by their NDAs, he claimed.
“I communicated this message to the two individuals over the phone and they both told me they planned to testify," he said, adding that Foster told him he would disregard the NDA if he received a court subpoena.
Webb - still works for Pitt - had his contract terminated in June 2021 after he understood the two testified under subpoena.
He said he then wrote to Jolie on June 16, 2021, thanking her for the work, explaining: “I also wrote that I was sad that we had become distant over the past few years, and that I knew she blamed me for what my independent contractors had done but that because they were self-employed I could not control what they did or said as they were not employed directly by SRS Global.
Webb said Jolie responded: “Take good care. as ever. Angie.”
