Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie News: Power Couple Sued for Non-Payment of Lighting Designer
Despite winning a court ruling following a legal battle with Brad Pitt, French lighting designer Odile Soudant vows to continue fighting for what she believes is legally right.
Soudant has won a $600,000 court ruling in her favor after suing Pitt for non-payment for her services as the lighting designer of Pitt and Angelina Jolie's sprawling Chateau Miraval property in Correns. According to the artist, her business undeniably suffered and her career as a designer was irreparably damaged because of the actor's refusal to pay for her services.
It has been learned, though, that Pitt's representatives said that the project Soudant handled is overdue and has already exceeded the budget, and that the disputed lighting design is that of Pitt's, not of Soudant. However, according to the designer, she and Pitt had an "unlimited time and unlimited budget" agreement, and that she was told that she could do more if she wanted to.
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According to Soudant, after three years and a half of work, Pitt stopped paying her. The designer revealed that she later found out that the actor just realized one day that he has already paid too much for the project.
Pitt's camp, though, has revealed that Soudant was already paid more than 4 million euros ($4.7 million) for work she did not complete. The actor's representatives have also claimed that the designer did not see eye-to-eye with others working on the renovation and disrupted the renovation works.
Soudant also claimed that Pitt sent her a threatening email, saying that friends do not sue friends, after she sent him a warning letter.
While the court already decided on her favor, granting her 565,000 euros ($660,000) including 300,000 euros in unpaid bills and 60,000 euros for damage to her image and reputation, Soudant insists that the amount is not enough to cover her financial or reputational losses.
As Pitt considers the lighting design his intellectual property, prohibiting Soudant to include her work in Chateau Miraval in her portfolio, she once again made legal moves to establish her rights to her designs.
"It's my work, my creations. It's like they cut off my arm," she said.
