“Aging Bull” Robert De Niro is being worked to death to keep up with his estranged wife’s extravagant lifestyle – including her “thirst for Stella McCartney” and diamond rings worth more than $ 1 million, his lawyer claimed in court Friday.
The older acting legend is a tax offender yet again – with the paychecks from his next two films as compensation for his last billion dollar bill to Uncle Sam, his divorce attorney claimed.
“Mr. De Niro is 77 years old, and while he loves his job, he shouldn’t be forced to work at this tremendous pace because he has to,” De Niro’s attorney, Caroline Krauss, told a Manhattan judge during a virtual divorce hearing. .
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“When’s that gonna stop? When will he get a chance not to take every project that comes along and work six-day weeks, 12-hour days so he can keep up with Mrs. Hightower’s thirst for Stella McCartney?” Krauss said, referring to her client’s ex, Grace Hightower, and the famous designer.
“He could get sick tomorrow, and the party is over,” she said of the famous “Raging Bull” and “The Irishman” star.
“He could get sick tomorrow, and the party is over.”
De Niro called the proceedings, while Hightower appeared via video link.
Economize?
The hearing came as the couple continued to bicker about how much money De Niro would have to pay Hightower until the terms of their 2004 prenuptial agreement kick in, presumably after their divorce was finalized.
Hightower’s attorney, Kevin McDonough, argued that since the divorce in 2018, De Niro has falsely continued to lower the amount he sent to his estranged husband, including her credit card charges, from $ 375,000 a month to just $ 100,000. monthly in January.
But Krauss claimed that in the years leading up to their divorce, Hightower was spending more and more. In 2019, she had spent $ 1.67 million – including buying a $ 1.2 million diamond from jeweler Kwiat, the lawyer said.
Krauss said De Niro is behind millions of dollars in taxes and the money from his next two film projects will be used to pay off those obligations. De Niro – who was challenged with a $ 6.4 million tax bill in 2015 – has previously said the pandemic has decimated his finances.
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De Niro doesn’t want Hightower and their two kids to have to leave their Manhattan apartment according to the prenup, which asks the former couple to sell the $ 20 million pillow, split the profits, and then let him buy another $ 6 million. . home for the trio, Krauss said.
But “if the choice is to sell the apartment and follow the agreement or pay for it according to Ms. Hightower’s demands – who are rich in indulgence, waste and greed – then we would go for the former,” Krauss said.
‘Maintaining the status quo’
McDonough said that until the prenuptial agreement takes effect, De Niro would have to pay her so she can maintain the status quo lifestyle she had when they were married – while also wept over Krauss’ claims that De Niro is struggling financially.
“ If he wants to lead or force his family to leave their old home while spending millions and millions and millions on himself, on his own house, on renovating what his lawyers ironically call his cottage in Montauk, he has there Put millions and millions in in recent years, he can take that position, ” McDonough claimed of the actor.
“If he wants to lead or force his family to leave their old home while spending millions and millions and millions on himself … he can take that position.”
“There are no cuts and no delays in Mr De Niro’s lifestyle,” McDonough said. When Mr. De Niro goes to brunch in Connecticut on Sunday, he charters a helicopter up there. If he’s flying down to see his friends in Florida or anywhere, it’s a private jet. ”
Robert De Niro arrives at the Hollywood Film Awards in Beverly Hills, California, November. 1, 2015.
(Reuters)
Krauss denied the claim that De Niro took a helicopter to brunch, while McDonough scoffed that his client spent $ 1.2 million on a diamond.
“I want to divorce these parties,” said Matthew Cooper, Manhattan Supreme Court judge. “I want Mrs. Hightower and Mr. De Niro to go their separate ways.
‘I want these parties to separate. I want Mrs. Hightower and Mr. De Niro to go their separate ways. ”
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“They will still come out of this richer than almost any human on the planet,” Cooper said.
Earlier in the hearing, Cooper reminded both sides, “There is nothing common about these expenditures. For 99.9999 percent of the world, these are extraordinary to an almost unimaginable degree.”
De Niro and Hightower married in 1997, separated in 1999, then got back together and renewed their vows in 2004 before filing for divorce three years ago.