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Palimony Suit Could Force Jodie Foster's 'Midlife Crisis' $25 Million Over Budget
Posted by STV at 2:30 AM on August 21, 2008
Jodie Foster really has gotten off exceptionally easy so far in her dizzying, delicate miracle of new love with homewrecking writer/producer Cynthia Mort, with her most significant cash outlays being that always-steep first date and the extravagant "My Condolences" balloon bouquet sent Mort's way after HBO canceled her show Tell Me You Love Me. Foster had fared even better with ex Cydney Bernard, who, after 14 years of cohabitative bliss, spared the Oscar-winner the ugliness of custody squabbles, L Word box-set splits and other public indignities. Her typically low public profile escalated for what felt like mere minutes, soon returning to its subtle, cultivated ebb of lesbian quietude — just the way she likes it.
Oh, but for the good old days, we're learning as the all-knowing National Enquirer — your trusted (and print-only in this case, we're afraid) oracle for anonymously sourced Foster's Splitsville drama — now reports that the actress's romantic reboot may cost her a quarter of her fortune. Or, adjusted roughly for inflation, $25 million:
Over the summer, however, Jodie began to realise just how much was at stake financially. ... The actress has an estimated net worth of $100 million, with at least $50 million being earned during her relationship with Cydney. Cydney could ask for — and likely get — half of the $50 million if she sued Jodie.
To counter that threat, the source says Jodie is desperately trying to keep peace between her new lover and Cydney. "She wants them to be friends," the source said. "Jodie realises that if Cydney perceives them to be one big happy family, she'd never sure for half her assets."
And what signifies a "big happy family"? Free residency for Bernard at one of Foster's homes in LA, for starters, followed by invitations to "parties and barbecues" to visit Foster's sons Charles and Kit. And, of course, a classically Foster-esque buyout that we'll likely never know about, requiring a yearly six-figure annuity and the contractual divestiture of Foster's beloved, Scorsese-signed Taxi Driver one-sheet to Bernard's lawyers "just for the hell of it." A tough break, to be sure — perhaps the star's toughest yet. But for a younger woman and anything else worth having, pay now or pay later; we just hope this doesn't necessitate Nim's Island 2.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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kookla
Posted 3:07 AM 21/8/08
@Fry_Bread_Power: Oops, you're right. It was actually Marvin Mitchelson that pioneered the palimony suit.
kookla
WGARefugee
Posted 3:05 AM 21/8/08
Hmm, that works out to around $148,000 a month or roughly 700 percent more than Hefner lays out for three gorgeous girlfriends.
WGARefugee
Fry_Bread_Power
Posted 2:59 AM 21/8/08
From California Marvin Contract Lawyers:
"Palimony has been described as "alimony for your pal." Actually, under Marvin v. Marvin the California Supreme Court recognized the ability of adults to contract with each other regarding property and support rights outside of a marital relationship."
Fry_Bread_Power
kookla
Posted 2:55 AM 21/8/08
@Oxycontinmoron: Raoul Felder, divorce attorney to the stars and creator of the palimony suit says "Yes!"
kookla
MissVolare
Posted 2:52 AM 21/8/08
In Kahhleeforniya they can!
MissVolare
Greasy Thumb Guzik
Posted 2:51 AM 21/8/08
@Oxycontinmoron:
My guess is that the California courts will mash up the Lee Marvin palimony case with the new gay marriage laws & make her pay out a nice chunk of change "to my beloved Cydney"!
Greasy Thumb Guzik
Oxycontinmoron
Posted 2:44 AM 21/8/08
Not to be ignorant, but can lesbians who cohabitated without the legal protection / rights of marriage sue for alimony or child support?
Oxycontinmoron
Juancho
Posted 3:30 AM 21/8/08
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: My avatar has no comment.
Juancho
A Pimp Named DaveR
Posted 3:59 AM 21/8/08
Admittedly, it's been a LOOOOOONG time since I studied any CA domestic relations law.... but I think that the underlying rationale behind Marvin v. Marvin was that unless there was some sort of contract-like arrangement between the parties, unmarried cohabitants did NOT have traditional alimony/support rights.
Also, unless I'm mistaken, almost all palimony claims (including Michelle Marvin's) have failed. I think Rock Hudson's lover was the only one who sustained a palimony suit, because he was able to show that Rock had specifically promised to take care of him financially if he moved in and such, which the court found to be a contract-like arrangement.
A Pimp Named DaveR
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Posted 3:51 AM 21/8/08
Midlife crisie or midwife crisis?
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
mordecai1908
Posted 4:26 AM 21/8/08
That's one way to come out of the closet ...
mordecai1908
depardoo
Posted 4:12 AM 21/8/08
Without the Massey Prenup, she's exposed.
depardoo
Juancho
Posted 4:48 AM 21/8/08
@A Pimp Named DaveR: This is all so Bernard and Doris.
Juancho
Scout 3.0
Posted 5:05 AM 21/8/08
It would be interesting to have a little bit of scandal about Jodie Foster. I just hope this new relationship and all of the upheaval it has caused is worth it to her.
Scout 3.0
flamincheeto
Posted 4:24 AM 21/8/08
@WGARefugee: haha
flamincheeto
BowlingForDollars
Posted 6:26 AM 21/8/08
Screw galimony. Blackmail will work just fine.
BowlingForDollars
Wendy_Kroy
Posted 7:27 AM 21/8/08
This is like Vicky Cristina Barcelona with worse haircuts, featuring Foster in the Bardem role, Mort as Johansson, and Bernard as Cruz... So, Jodie, if I were you, I'd hide the cutlery.
Wendy_Kroy
mothrafairy
Posted 1:49 PM 21/8/08
If there's money, someone gets paid to go away, eventually.
Remember Judy Nelson, the Texas beauty-queen who once managed to get Martina Navratilova on videotape? Under coaching from Nelson, Martina happily promised a laundry list of future payouts should they ever break up. Hilarious.
Though I believe Martina later tried an unsuccessful "pussy-drunk defense" in Colorado court, the vid make Nelson rich.
mothrafairy
Unrequited Narcissism
Posted 8:05 PM 21/8/08
"To counter that threat, the source says Jodie is desperately trying to keep peace between her new lover and Cydney. "She wants them to be friends," the source said. "Jodie realizes that if Cydney perceives them to be one big happy family, she'd never sure (sic) for half her assets."
The Enquirer reporter has covered one-too-many Chupacabras. Foster believes she can convince jilted ex-lover Bernard that despite Mort's sudden ubiquity in Foster's life, the three uber-lesbians and Foster's parthenogenetic sons Charles and Kit can constitute one 'big happy family?' Even the Enquirer's target illumanto will chuckle at the notion.
Unrequited Narcissism
Admore
Posted 4:01 PM 23/8/08
@ A Pimp Named Dave / Unrequited Narc- That seems about right to me. My question is could Foster's two sons and their relationship with Cydney change the court room result? If I'm Foster's lawyer, I'm not sure I'd want to find out.
I'm guessing it gets settled quietly, but in eight figures.
Admore