Angelina Jolie Countersuit May Hurt Her More Than Brad Pitt: Crisis Manager

Angelina Jolie filed a countersuit against her ex-husband, Brad Pitt, on Tuesday detailing his alleged abusive behavior on a private plane in 2016, which some experts are saying might not entirely be in her favor.

Jolie and Pitt are currently entangled in a legal battle over the winery they owned together, and in a new court filing, Jolie stated that negotiations for the winery broke off after Pitt requested 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 complaint goes on to describe alleged abuse that Jolie and their children endured during a flight from France to Los Angeles in 2016, a confrontation that has long been speculated to be the collapse of their marriage.

The abuse alleged in the filing stated that "Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face" and "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her," during an argument, adding that at one point "he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children."

"She has gone to great lengths to try to shield their children from reliving the pain Pitt inflicted on the family that day," Jolie's lawyers wrote in the cross-complaint, according to The New York Times. "But when Pitt filed this lawsuit seeking to reassert control over Jolie's financial life and compel her to rejoin her ex-husband as a frozen-out business partner, Pitt forced Jolie to publicly defend herself on these issues for the first time."

Pitt sued Jolie in February for selling her interest in their wine company, Château Miraval, to Stoli Group, and his lawsuit stated that they had come to an understanding that neither would sell their share of the winery without consent from the other party.

Crisis management and public relations expert Holly Baird told Newsweek that the countersuit and the abuse allegations may not have the effect that Jolie hopes.

"Ultimately, the situation's one of those, whoever gives up first, whoever waves the white flag," Baird said. "Brad seems to be on the defense since 2016, and Angelina has been on offense, and at every opportunity, you want to be on offense, but I think it's hurting Angelina because everyone has seemed to have moved on except for her."

Jolie and Pitt previously fought a custody battle for their six children, and now are in a legal battle over the French winery, but both actors have had their own personal projects in the meantime: Jolie was in Ukraine earlier this year as a special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency, and Pitt has started a skin care line and showcased his artwork in an international gallery.

However, from a public relations crisis standpoint, Baird said that Pitt is most likely coming out of Jolie's most recent filing with the higher ground. "It's actually smarter for him to not go on the offense and attack her because it also shows the restraints... It's about receiving and listening to the other side, and that's what he's been doing this whole time. Taking it, listening, and responding."

"This information is not really a big change to the dynamics of their divorce, nor does it justify Angelina Jolie's high-conflict approach," said trial attorney Holly Davis in a statement to Newsweek. "Brad Pitt has admitted to most of the behavior on the plane. He was punished for it in their custody case. Since 2016, he has been rehabilitating himself and showing that he is not a danger to the children, which justified a request for an increased amount of time with the children."

"Angelina has every right to be upset and devastated at the incident that occurred in 2016 on the plane. We have all heard about it in the press for six years. The problem with Angelina's current position is that she is pointing to evidence of a terrible incident six years ago as the justification for Brad to have no contact with the children, which ignores the recent evidence of his change, sobriety, cooperation with the court's orders in their custody agreement, and his desire to increase his time and role in his children's lives," said Davis.