Supermodel Linda Evangelista announced last month that French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault is the father of her four-year old son, Augustin James, and now she is suing him for $46,000 a month in child support.
According to Evangelista’s lawyer, William Beslow, the substantial monthly sum his client is requesting, which totals out to $552,000 a year, would cover costs for round-the-clock nannies, drivers, and security detail for young Augustin.
While the amount would most likely be a drop in the bucket for Francois-Henri, whose estimated worth is $11.5 billion, he is still fighting his former lover’s expenditures.
Pinault, the 49-year-old CEO of luxury brands firm PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and others, has a three-year-old daughter, Valentina, with actress Salma Hayek , born 11 months after Augustin.
A major factor in Evangelista’s favor is that Pinault already spends a reported $50,000 a month on Valentina, but has yet to offer financial support since Augustin’s birth.
“He’s just been sitting back, paying zero,” Beslow argued.
The judge – after quickly rejecting a $7,500 “vacation expense” request – was reportedly sympathetic to the rest of Evangelista’s demands, and was reported as saying:
“These are the extraordinary expenses that may be a part of the child’s life. And if there is a trial [in the support case] with a lot of publicity, there will probably be a need for two detectives to drive this kid around.”
via IBT
