Tony Barson/WireImage.com, Venturelli/WireImageLinda Evangelista is striking a pose...in front of a judge.
The famed supermodel is asking the Manhattan Family Court to order fashion mogul François-Henri Pinault—who, as it happens, has been the husband of Salma Hayek for the past two years—to fork over a whopping $46,000-a-month in child support to help Evangelista care for her and Pinault's 4-year-old son.
We wonder what Salma has to say about this?
Per the New York Post, Evangelista turned up at yesterday's hearing flanked by attorney William Beslow to argue that her wealthy former companion and baby daddy has failed to provide hardly anything for little Augustin despite the fact that his company owns or has a stake in some of the fashion industry's biggest luxury labels, including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen.
"He's just been sitting back, paying zero," her lawyer stated.
Making things worse, Beslow claimed, is that Pinault had set aside a $12 million trust for Valentina, his 3-year-old daughter with Hayek.
So how would the money break down?
Beslow said it would cover full-time nannies at $80,000-a-year and gun-toting bodyguards, which costs upwards of $175,000-a-year—a pittance considering Pinault's fortune is estimated at $11.5 billion.
Asked by the judge how many hours a week she works, the 46-year-old stunner said the expenses were necessary given the arduous requirements of her career—like staying fit and keeping her goddess looks.
"On days when I do not work, I am working on my image," Evangelista told the judge. "I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image just like an athlete."
Pinault's camp wasn't buying it, arguing that the leggy beauty could easily afford the expenditures.
"She testified that she wants to have a 24-hour nanny because she does not want to be alone with the child," complained Pinaut's lawyer, David Aronson.
"Ms. Evangelista, you should understand, has a worth of more than $8 million, and she earned last year $1.8 million."
The judge subsequently nixed the catwalker's request for $7,500 for a "monthly" vacation stipend. However, he called her request for her former companion to share the financial burden of round-the-clock care and protection for August reasonable given his parents' celebrity status.
"These are the extraordinary expenses that may be a part of the child's life," the judge said. "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."
Evangelista, who had initially gone to great lengths to hide her baby daddy's identity, claiming the father was a "New York architect," hooked up with Pinault and conceived their baby boy in early 2006. It was reportedly during a time when Pinault and then-girlfriend Hayek had briefly separated.
Neither side's attorneys would comment on the support case and there's no word on the next court date. But if Evangelista and Pinault can't come to an arrangement, a trial might just be the hottest thing going next season.