Michael Douglas' Ex Clashing Over "Wall Street" Cash In New York
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) "Money Never Sleeps" and neither do decade-old Hollywood divorces.
The former Mrs. Michael Douglas, Diandra Douglas, has filed a new lawsuit over the actor's upcoming "Wall Street" sequel on Tuesday, claiming she's entitled to half his earnings from "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," set to open Sept. 24.
The dispute has featured accusations of avarice on both sides and an unusually detailed look at Hollywood-style divorce.
The couple's 23-year marriage ended in 2000. He's now married to Oscar-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, 40.
The former couple's multimillion-dollar separation gives Diandra Douglas the right to share in proceeds from spinoffs and other projects related to work Michael Douglas did while they were married.
That should include director Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" follow-up, in which Michael Douglas reprises and updates his Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko, who famously declared "greed is good" also became a slogan or an epithet for the 1980s, depending on one's perspective.
But Michael Douglas' lawyer says his ex is misinterpreting the agreement, and it doesn't apply to the "Wall Street" sequel.
Since their divorce, Diandra Douglas has made $6.3 million from her stake in residual proceeds from other past projects, Chinitz said.
Diandra Douglas' lawyer says her client isn't money-hungry and isn't clinging to her ex-husband's coattails.
Michael Douglas' side also says the dispute belongs in Santa Barbara, Calif., where the couple hammered out a divorce agreement so extensive that the particulars are recorded in an hours-long videotape made before a judge, according to Chinitz.
Diandra Douglas chose to pursue the case in New York, where she and the actor both have homes.
Neither Douglas was in court Tuesday. State Supreme Court Justice Matthew F. Cooper didn't issue a ruling or set a timeframe for one.
Insights into the former couple's life together were bared earlier this year, when their son, Cameron, faced sentencing after pleading guilty to a federal drug charge for dealing methamphetamine from a trendy Manhattan hotel. In a letter to his son's judge, Michael Douglas described their union as a "bad marriage."