Very rich Hollywood conservative Dennis Hopper is reportedly on his death bed. So what is his final wish? A divorce from his liberal, younger wife so she won't be able to contest his will. Now that's love.
Was today National Divorce Day or something? (No, April 16 is.) It sort of seemed like it was, though. Beyoncé's mom served her dad with divorce papers today. Ivana Trump filed to divorce Rossano Rubicondi this afternoon. LeAnn Rimes' husband served the country singer. And Jon and Kate Gosselin's divorce was finalized today, too. Elin Nordegren isn't there just yet, she's one step closer: Today she retained a lawyer to handle her divorce from Tiger Woods. Here's hoping your day wasn't nearly as eventful. [LAT, AP, People]
This is not how rock bands are supposed to die. Bands are supposed to go out in a blaze of charred hotel suites, blood feuds and drug overdoses. Instead, Aerosmith's end came in a blog entry.
Former supermodel Stephanie Seymour and newsprint mogul Peter Brant are in the middle of a very messy divorce at the moment. Neither side has spoken out about their imploded marriage, since Seymour and Brant signed an agreement barring them from discussing the feud publicly. But presumably Brant and Seymour's lawyers didn't address the subject of sexy photos, which explains why the December issue of Vanity Fair features a collection of half-nude photos of the 41-year-old ex-model by Mario Testino. (Brant will get a spread of his own in the January issue, we imagine.)
Model Stephanie Seymour and paper mogul Peter Brant have been in the middle of a nasty divorce the past few months, a feud that has required the police to intervene on more than one occasion. While the case plays itself out in the courts, a judge issued some "financial ground rules" recently, a ruling that requires Brant to pay Seymour $270,000 a month in alimony and child support. But that isn't all that much when you consider what Brant normally spends his money on:
Did your husband just leave you? Well, then, have a look at the "Suddenly Splitsville" package that the Marmara Manhattan, an "extended-stay" hotel on the Upper East Side, is now offering. In addition to a fully-furnished luxury apartment, you'll get a one-year subscription to Divorce magazine, "a pint of Haagen Daz [sic] ice cream to drown those sorrows in," a free pass to the 92nd Street Y "to work on that new physique," a complimentary copy of Confessions Of An Online Dating Addict, "a book about the trials and tribulations of a woman who dated online in New York City to learn all about dating on the Web," and free wireless Internet access so you "can start surfing the dating sites." You really couldn't ask for anything else, could you? [Marmara Manhattan via YM]
Marie Douglas-David, the Swedish countess who's been embroiled in one of the nastiest divorces in recent memory, has finally settled her long-running legal dispute with George David, the chairman of United Technologies. In addition to the $45 million she got as part of postnup, she's expected to collect another $10 million or so, which means she'll walk away with about $21,000 for every day the Davids were married. [NYP]
In news that will probably leave you speechless with surprise, Billy Joel and third wife Katie Lee Joel confirmed this afternoon they're splitting up. "After nearly five years of marriage, Billy and Katie have decided to separate," reps for the couple told the Daily News. "This decision is the result of much thought and consideration. Billy and Katie remain caring friends, with admiration and respect for each other." Naturally, the decision to part ways had nothing at all to do with the rumors that Lee's been dating designer Yigal Azrouël. They've been doing a very good job keeping that one under wraps, clearly. [NYDN]
• It looks like it's over for Paris Hilton and boyfriend Doug Reinhardt. Please excuse us while we go get a big box of tissues; we really weren't mentally prepared for news this upsetting this morning. [People, Sun]
• A couple of weeks ago, it was Gwynnie Paltrow who was getting blamed for setting A-Rod up with Kate Hudson. Now real estate "superagent" Adam Modlin is taking credit for brokering the transaction. Go figure. [NYDN]
• Maybe Kanye West and Amber Rose didn't break up, after all. Or maybe they did break up, but they're spending a lot of time together anyway? It's a mystery, really. [P6]
• Coco Rocha is not going to be an intern at Vogue this summer. She's just spending a lot of time there so she can "learn more about the business." [WWD]
It was more than year and a half ago that Paramount chief Brad Grey was served with divorce papers by his wife of 25 years, Jill Grey. The case finally wrapped up last week when the two sides reached a settlement. Just how much Jill walked away with wasn't disclosed in the court docs. Judging by her signature, though, it's safe to assume she did just fine. [TMZ]
Millions of Americans are struggling on account of the crappy economy, but can we all take a minute to reflect on the especially difficult situation in which Marie Douglas-David now finds herself? The Swedish countess, former investment banker, and estranged wife of United Technologies chairman George David appeared in divorce court yesterday and started things off by asking a judge to toss out the $36 million postnup she signed, since that kind of chump change will "barely last her a decade," and it's not like she can go out and get another finance job or anything what with her husband's constant ridicule having "diminished her self-confidence." She's now asking for a larger cut of David's $300 million fortune, but maybe a new career for Douglas-David isn't out of the realm of possibility. David's lawyer said that the countess constantly subjected her husband to long lectures on "how he held his fork or how he drafted invitations." And isn't that how Martha Stewart got started? [NYP]
Won't it be strange when the media stops pointing out that every single element of our lives is being dictated by the bad economy and joblessness, and fear of the economy worsening and of becoming jobless? Judging by the latest round of gloomy statistics, that won't be the case for at least a year, so in the meantime, have you heard? Divorce, once the great equalizer, is now a fancy luxury purchase that people can't afford!
Bernie Madoff is complicating everything! Steve Simkin, a partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss is now suing his ex-wife Laura, demanding that she return the $2.7 million he gave her as part of a divorce settlement in 2006. Why? Because Simkin's money was invested with Madoff, of course, and the settlement was based on the assumption the couple had $5.4 million in their Madoff account. The couple says it took two years to negotiate their divorce the first time around. So you can expect to read a follow-up to this case in the paper in 2011 or so. [NYDN]
The news that Luke Janklow and his wife Julie were divorcing first surfaced two weeks ago, and last week the couple's townhouse hit the market for $24.95 million. But the literary agent to the rich and famous (such as Anderson Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow) hasn't been sitting at home mourning the dissolution of his marriage. We hear that Janklow is now dating Jessica Joffe, the flame-tressed social scenester and occasional model/writer who was famously involved with singer Ryan Adams until last year.
How do you know when a socialite's marriage is falling apart? They stop going to parties so they stay home and bury their beautiful faces in giant containers of ice cream. Following up on the news that Tinsley Mortimer is now separated from her husband Topper, the Observer notes that the Tinz has made few party appearances in recent months, a stark contrast from happier times when Tinsley could be counted on to turn up at events several nights a week. As for Topper, he's reportedly shed 15 pounds and has "an added bounce in his step," in case you were wondering. [NYO]
