Michael Douglas' Ex-Wife Wants a Piece of His 'Wall Street 2' Money

By John Mitchell Posted Jun 28th 2010 01:20PM

The title for the upcoming sequel to 'Wall Street' is 'Money Never Sleeps,' and star Michael Douglas is learning the hard way just how true those words are.

Douglas is being sued by his ex-wife, Diandra Douglas, who is claiming that she is entitled to 50 percent of his earnings from the upcoming 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' as part of her divorce settlement from the actor, according to the New York Post. Michael and Diandra divorced in 2000, and he is currently married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, with whom he has two children, Dylan, 9, and Carys, 7.

If it seems strange that Diandra would be seeking her share of her ex-husband's salary for a movie he made a decade after their divorce was finalized ... well, it is. The suit appears to hinge on a clause in Michael and Diandra's divorce settlement that entitles her to 50 percent of any earnings Michael receives from any movies he did -- including residuals, merchandising and ancillary rights -- during their 23-year marriage. According to Diandra's lawyers, that provision includes any "spinoffs" of Douglas' movies.

The 1987 smash 'Wall Street' -- for which Michael won the Best Actor Oscar for his classic turn as Gordon Gekko -- was released during their marriage, and with the sequel set to hit theaters in September, Diandra is ramping up her case. "It's the same character, the same title, just years later," her lawyer, Nancy Chemtob, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper at a hearing last Wednesday.

Marilyn Chinitz, Michael's lawyer, however, simply thinks this is a case of life imitating art, with Diandra taking the famed Gordon Gekko line "greed is good" to heart. "He doesn't want her to be an albatross around his neck forever," Chinitz said.

Michael and Diandra's divorce remains one of the costliest in Hollywood history. The pair's split was bitter, to say the least, with Diandra accusing Michael of sex and alcohol addiction and multiple infidelities. In 2007, Forbes magazine compiled a list of the 10 most expensive celebrity divorces and listed the Douglases' at number eight. Diandra walked away with an estimated $45 million and the couple's homes in Beverly Hills and Majorca.

Michael's legal team is seeking to have the case dismissed, arguing that the suit should never have been filed in New York in the first place, as the couple's divorce was finalized in California, and that the case has no merit because 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' is a sequel, not a "spinoff." "They're not the same thing," Chinitz said in court.

Diandra's lawyer told the judge she filed the suit in New York because both she and Michael currently reside in the city, and noted that there's no legal reason the case can be heard only in California.

Justice Cooper has delayed ruling while he considers whether he should keep the case or send it back to a California court; however, he revealed that he believes there is indeed a difference between a spinoff and a sequel.

Michael and Diandra recently came together to support their son, Cameron, who was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in dealing methamphetamine and cocaine in New York City. During Cameron's April sentencing, Michael, who along with Diandra, Zeta-Jones and Kirk Douglas asked the judge for leniency, took a swipe at his ex-wife in a letter to the judge, describing Diandra as "a young mother without any parenting skills handed down from her own parents."

Tags: Michael Douglas

Comments

(398)

Monday 28 June

By RC

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Well,I'm sure she is entitled to it...if we put ourselves in her shoes, I'm sure we'd feel that it isn't being greedy...Wall Street II is a continuation of Wall Street 1...and she is the mother of his first child.

By conianne

Michael should pay and get over it! Once a cheater, always a cheater so, Catherine, watch out. Of course, he IS pretty old now so maybe he just doesn't have the energy to stray now. LOL

By J

Typical woman.

By John

What would Gordon Gecko say: Greed is a good thing.

By AF

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Whether she deserves more revenge, or not, she needs to realize that her actions are affecting her in a much more costly way, on a personal and emotional level, than they are him, on a monetary one. That hatred and bitterness is going to rot her from the inside out, and she needs to get a handle on that, already. Take your MILLIONS and TWO HOMES...and get on with it.

By JOHN

THAT GREEDY PERSON SHOULD BE SHOT WITH ALL THE OTHER GREEDY S.O.B's

By Ben lopes

She can have themoney but only if she has to listent to non-stop vuvusalas horn blowing for two weeks, 24-7.

Tuesday 29 June

By david gardner

So very typical of the gender....

By E

He did not physically make this movie during their marriage...So.

By david k gardner

shoot her and put her out of her misery!

By drbushmn

I would refuse to make the movie just to piss her off. How do you like me now!

By linda

She was married to this guy for 23 years. Yes, I think she should get everything that is agreed upon. I know there are a lot of women haters out here. I heard Tiger Woods wife is asking for 750 million and I doubt if they've been married more than 5 years.

By angeandre4

Sounds like someone has gone through all the millions and is in need of more. Either way the lawyers will get the bulk of it. If you want the person you divorced 10 years ago out of your life...then LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!

By Ron

Not very noble atributes but greed and hate are not illegal.

By Carrie

Bottom line.....

"Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned!"

By Angryman

"You got dreams, I WANT THEM TOO!!" -Diandra Douglas LMBAO

By cwill

Zeta-Jones will do the same thing when the dew is off of her rose, and the news of her separation and divorce from Douglas hits the tabloids in a few months. Most of these Hollywood couples change their marital relationships like underwear.

By maryagingersmom

Greed, Envy, etc., the ex needs to take a hike and get on with her life. I have never seen anything like this. If the judge ruled in her favor, just think of all the divorce cases out there that would be reopened. It would be a precedent setting case. Hopefully the judge knows that and will rule in Mr. Douglas's favor.

By Larry

PROBABLY RELATED TO HEATHER MILLS!!

By Rodney

SHE SHOULDN'T GET ANY MORE MONEY,45 MILLION IS MORE THAN ENOUGH
TO LIVE ON FOR NORMAL PEOPLE & FAMILIES!

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