In a story that has the New York tabloids buzzing, 32-year-old Broadway theater scion Eric Nederlander is loudly claiming that the retired sitcom king stole his 26-year-old bride of just a few months, Shoshanna Lonstein-lookalike Jessica Sklar.
Both the New York Post and the New York Daily News have reported this week that--after several months of courting--Sklar and the 44-year-old funnyman are, in fact, an item. And that Nederlander, whose father owns six Broadway theaters and a piece of the World Series-contending Yankees, is quite upset. He's already filed for divorce.
Seinfeld and Sklar reportedly met at the tony Reebok Sports Center just days after the newlywed returned from her Italian honeymoon this summer. "It was like the Devil got a hold of her," the Daily News quoted an unnamed friend of Eric's.
Still, despite the infidelity rumors, Nederlander was initially okay with the situation.
"I know all about their friendship," he told the Daily News. "I know that they see each other at the gym...They talk to each other on the phone...I have no problem with it...Our relationship, it couldn't be more solid. Jerry Seinfeld is not going out with my wife, and if he were going out with my wife, then we'd have some real problems."
But Nederlander has since changed his tune. "The family is appalled by the behavior of Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld," says Dan Klores, a spokesman for the younger Nederlander. "Eric is stunned at her betrayal. All of these matters will be handled in the appropriate way through the courts."
And speaking with the Daily News, Sklar's mother, Ellen, says: "We are very saddened by this. But my daughter is my daughter...we understand that Eric is operating from a position of pain. Jessica is not in a position to have a voice right now. She'll just have to live with this for a while."