Michael Douglas' Ex Wants Cut of Wall Street Cash

A decade after divorce, star's ex-wife sues for half of his earnings from upcoming sequel, claiming clause in settlement entitles her to the funds

By Gina Serpe Jun 28, 2010 6:45 PMTags
Diandra Douglas, Michael DouglasBrian Ach/Getty Images

Greed is good? Not for Michael Douglas.

A decade after his divorce from Diandra Douglas, the movie star's ex-wife is trying to get her hands on a piece of the actor's salary (and back-end profits) from Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, citing a controversial clause from their 2000 split.

Guess that $45 million divorce settlement can only last her so long.

Earlier this month, Diandra filed suit against Michael in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeking 50 percent of his total haul from the soon-to-be-released Oliver Stone sequel, citing a clause in their divorce settlement that entitles her to half of his earnings from any residuals, merchandising or spinoffs of movies made while the duo was together.

"The divorce agreement says that Diandra and Michael are to split 50/50 anything related to the films he made during their 23-year marriage," a source told E! News. "She is seeking that money that she is owed. He unfortunately doesn't want to pay her it."

Wall Street falls into the timeframe, thus, per Diandra, she's entitled to some scratch from Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. But not, unsurprisingly, according to Michael.

Douglas' legal team argues that the upcoming flick is a sequel (true), not a spinoff (the clue may be in the title), and thus does not fit into the money-sharing parameters that were laid out in their settlement.

"It's the same character, the same title, just years later," Diandra's lawyer Nancy Chemtob argued.

"They're not the same thing," Michael's attorney Marily Chinitz countered in court. "He doesn't want her to be an albatross around his neck forever."

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper said at their initial hearing that he believed there was a difference between a sequel and a spinoff, but that he hasn't made a decision about whether the case will proceed. He's still weighing whether to hear the case in New York, or send the warring parties back to Santa Barbara court, where they were divorced.

More papers in the case, which has been sealed, will be filed in late July and the next hearing date is scheduled for August.

—Additional reporting by Whitney English

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Not all exes are this contentious. But some are. Find out who's who in our Big Celebrity Splits gallery.