More man trouble for Ellen Barkin.
Just when it seemed their nasty divorce was a done deal, the 53-year-old actress has been sued by her ex-hubby, billionaire financier Ron Perelman, for allegedly draining funds from a film production company the couple started with her brother.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, the Revlon king invested $465,000 to bankroll Applehead Pictures LLC, which he, Barkin and sibling George Barkin, a former editor of High Times magazine, founded in 2005.
Per the complaint, Perelman says that after he left Barkin in January 2006 and sought to end their five-year marriage, the Ocean's Thirteen star misappropriated the funds in revenge. Perelman also claims Barkin paid her brother an inflated annual salary of $250,000 despite him rendering "few services of value."
Perelman claims the siblings formed a new production outfit, Applehead II, using his money without his permission. In his suit, he claims "defendants no longer entered into agreements to produce movies or developed scripts in Applehead I's name."
"Instead, they began to enter into contracts in the name of Applehead II, using Applehead I's funds and other assets and while being paid by Applehead I," read court documents.
The cosmetics mogul, whose net worth is estimated to be $5 billion and who agreed to a $40 million divorce settlement with Barkin last year, says his ex-missus "used Applehead I's funds to pursue a personal claim" against him.
In August, Applehead—essentially acting as a proxy for the Barkins—filed suit against the 64-year-old businessman, claiming he failed to honor an agreement struck before the couple's split to provide $3.4 million in additional financing for the company.
"We were initially disappointed at Ms. Barkin's attempts to further enrich herself after the divorce," said Perelman's rep, Chris Taylor. "We are further disappointed to learn of her additional actions to further enrich herself, her family and friends."
Perelman also claims Barkin siphoned off $7,000 for her own company, Barkin Industries.
Applehead countered with a statement slamming Perelman.
"Ronald Perelman’s frivolous lawsuit is yet another attempt to avoid honoring his written contract to contribute more than $3 million to Applehead Pictures. Perelman drafted and signed this contract with Applehead at the time of his divorce from Ellen Barkin, and then simply refused to pay," the company said.
"His lawsuit is entirely without merit and makes baseless allegations regarding the use of Applehead funds."
Applehead's attorney Jacob Buchdahl said that because the pair sealed the agreement for Perelman's pledge at the time they were divorcing, not beforehand, it "shows this was not something he reconsidered when he divorced her."
"This is something he pledged to do," the lawyer told E! Online.
When the billionaire refused to make good on that promise, Barkin was forced to enlist other investors to step in and fill the void, Buchdahl said. As for her brother's whopper of a paycheck, Buchdahl claimed Perelman was well aware of the budget when he signed on.
"He's criticizing a salary he approved himself," the lawyer said.
As for the $7,000 payment to her titular company, Buchdahl claimed the actress was simply repaying a loan she had made to Applehead via her own firm.
Not that Barkin's cash poor these days.
Aside from the $40 million divorce settlement, Barkin netted nearly $20 million last year after auctioning off her jewelry collection, which included the wedding ring given to her by Perelman.