Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Are Facing A New Lawsuit
A French designer is suing Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie after they stopped paying her dues.
Artist Odile Soudant claimed that the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-stars have stopped paying her for her services for no reason after they hired her to light four buildings on their estate in Correns, France. The property includes a 40-room chateau, Fox News reported. “He wanted to make it an exceptional place and believed that light should be at the heart of this,” Soudant told Libération (via The Guardian).
The artist added that she was given a “carte blanche” to light the four buildings on the estate. There were no contracts, but Soudant billed Jolie and Pitt’s Château Miraval company for her services every month. The monthly payment also goes to the 17 employees Soudant hired for the “BP project,” which includes designers, architects, lighting and acoustic specialists and an optical engineer to determine the angle of sun rays on the chateau.
Soudant said that she has no idea why Pitt stopped sending her payments two years after the project began. However, she still receives emails from the “Allied” star asking her to continue the project. The light expert explained that when she ran out of funds after Pitt and Jolie failed to pay her, she was forced to suspend the company operations.
Ten days after his first email to her, Soudant received yet another email from Pitt asking her to continue her work on their estate. “I don’t know how things happen in France, but in the United States, friends don’t attack friends,” the “Fury” star wrote. “I’ve been nothing, but a fan of your work. Do not attack. Let’s finish the project and be proud of it. The work is too good to end on a bad note. Life is too short, my friend.”
In another email, Pitt wrote: “Don’t waste time with legal action. Follow your artistic journey and don’t worry about the rest.”
Soudant was awarded her payout in April, but she is still not done. Her new appeal is to recognize her as the artist as the project was handed to one of her former employees after her dispute with Pitt.
In a statement to the Paris court, an architect working on the property claimed that the lighting ideas were from Pitt himself. “The lighting ideas came principally from Mr. Pitt himself. He is passionate about architecture and knew what he wanted to achieve,” read the statement.
Meanwhile, Jolie appears to be unaffected by the issue. This week, the “Maleficent” star was spotted bonding with her dad, Jon Voight, as they took Vivienne, 9, to her Color Me Mine class in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood in Los Angeles. The father and daughter were in good spirits as they laughed and chatted along the way.
Were you surprised with the news of a new lawsuit filed against Jolie and Pitt? Drop a comment below.
A French artist sued Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt after they stopped paying her for lighting their estate in France. Pictured: Jolie and Pitt attend Audi at the opening night gala premiere of “By the Sea” during at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on Nov. 5, 2015 in Hollywood, California. Photo: Getty Images/Jonathan Leibson
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