If you listen to the news at all, then you have undoubtedly heard the profanity filled rants that allegedly came from Mel Gibson toward Oksana Grigorieva, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter. What you may not have heard are the rumors that have begun to swirl around that Grigorieva may have tried to extort Gibson with these tapes.

According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s detectives are investigating just that.

Steve Whitmore, the spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, refused to elaborate any more into the rumors than that, stating only that “detectives will follow the investigation wherever it leads.”

Grigorieva, a 40 year old Russian singer, has used her spokesman to deny any of the allegations. Stephen Jaffe, Grigorieva’s spokesperson, was quoted saying that “there is no credible evidence whatsoever of extortion by [Grigorieva], and she stands steadfastly by that statement.”

The timing of the tapes’ release does raise an eyebrow due to the fact that the two are currently in the middle of a custody dispute over their eight month old daughter. The records in that case are sealed.

The effects of these tapes on Gibson will likely be devastating. According to The New York Times, Gibson has already started losing foreign film buyers.

Gibson actually hasn’t acted in a Hollywood film since Signs in 2002, but has been successful in getting millions of dollars in foreign investments to make movies for foreign theater chains.

Gibson has been hit hard in the European and Middle Eastern press. James Ulmer, who has ranked actors’ values and has a special knowledge of foreign markets, was quoted as saying he was “surprised at how much of an emotional impact this has had on the Europeans.”

Between this incident and his anti-Semitic rant following a DUI arrest in 2006, Gibson may just be seen as too difficult a client and too risky an investment.

It might be a surprise that Gibson’s films have had such an important base in foreign theaters. The 1995 blockbuster Braveheart earned nearly two thirds of its $210 million from foreign box offices. That works out to approximately $134.4 million.

These tapes, whether or not they were ever used in an attempt to extort Gibson, are probably going to take a good chunk out of his foreign and domestic following. For now, we have to wait to see what Gibson says when he finally addresses the media about this issue. Until Gibson talks, the rumors about extortion, tape manipulation, and even the certainty that it is his voice, will be speculated on. It will be interesting to watch and see how Gibson will handle this situation.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Elon Musk, the man that director Jon Favreau modeled the movie super-hero Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Junior in the recent Iron Man movie, is apparently bankrupt.

Musk was a founder of PayPal, which netted him a cool $200 million not very long ago. Since then, to earn the right to be the inspiration for Tony Stark, Musk helped design the Falcon 9 booster used by NASA, created Solar City, a leader in solar power and even helped create the hands down coolest electric car, the Tesla.

Now, according to an article in The New York Times, Musk told the divorce court that he is broke.

His wife, novelist Justine Musk, is trying to receive the house, alimony, child support and a cool $6 million in cash. On top of all that, Justine also wants part of the Tesla Motors and part of the stock in Musk’s rocket company SpaceX.

Musk claims to have put is final $35 million into Tesla, which nearly bankrupted two years ago.

Musk’s decision to save his stake in the company, according to experts, might make him an incredibly wealthy man yet again. The company went public in late June and raised $266 million in it’s initial public offering—making up for the $260.7 million Musk has personally invested in the company since its inception.

Musk and his wife Justine Musk do have a prenuptial agreement, which they signed shortly after marrying, but Justine is contesting this agreement in court.

There seems to be no doubt that Musk is a wealthy man and will rebound. Justine describes him as a billionaire who is merely have cash liquidity issues.

Justine has a blog where she has taken on critics that have claimed that she is merely a gold-digger looking to get something out for nothing.

“Is that what I deserve?” Mrs. Musk wrote about the negative descriptions of her, “Golddigging… I don’t know. Who exactly deserves that kind of wealth? But based on our life and history together, is that reasonable” I think so.”

Musk recently wrote an open letter in the Huffington Post in which he described how California’s divorce laws are causing his financial strains.

What caught me by surprise, and forced me to seek emergency loans from friends, were the enormous legal fees I had to pay my ex-wife’s divorce lawyers. In a California divorce, the wealthier spouse must pay both sides of the battle even if they are not the aggressor.

The legal and accounting bills for the divorce total four million dollars so far, which is an average of roughly $170,000 per month for the past 24 months.

At the end of the day, looking at the future prospects for Musk, there should be plenty of money to go around and keep both parties living the life they grew accustomed to as a couple. Whether or not the prenuptial agreement will hold or if Justine Musk will be able to receive the amount she wants is something we are going to have to wait to see how the court decides.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

The very public and increasingly strange McCourt divorce case is starting to look like an episode of CSI.

Recently, the lawyer for Frank McCourt—the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers who is embroiled in a nasty divorce from wife Jamie—has won what ESPN calls “a major victory” in the divorce proceedings. The victory was the result of science, allegations of deceit and a struggle for access to the lucrative Dodger franchise.

According to the article, forensic scientists from both sides in the case analyzed a document that has escalated the war of words in the divorce. They were searching the document for signs of tampering.

The document is a postnuptial marital property agreement that put the couple’s homes into Jamie’s name, from March of 2004. That fact is all that the two sides agree on about the document that they signed just before moving from Boston to Los Angeles to begin their life on the West coast.

Frank McCourt’s side has argued that the document, which consists of seven pages and two schedules on the back that divided up the couple’s assets, gave him control of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

Jamie, however, contended that she had never signed the document. And that is where the latest dispute in this tumultuous and public divorce case comes from. Jamie McCourt is fighting for some level of control of the baseball team, while Frank is working to deny her that access.

The physical documents were brought from a Boston law firm vault for analysis in court, and to be subjected to the eyes of the forensic scientists. Jamie McCourt’s legal representation claims that there are six copies of the prenuptial agreement, and that three of those didn’t include the schedule that divided up their assets and supposedly granted control of the Dodgers to Frank McCourt.

Instead, Jamie argues, three of the documents were signed at a different time than the initial three. Those are the ones that didn’t have the schedule on them, according to her side of the story.

And what is the main piece of evidence under scientific evaluation? It’s a staple.
According to Frank McCourt’s lawyer Stephen Susman, the documents that they found have the same staple holding them together that was used in 2004, at the time of the signing.

In what some consider the final blow to Jamie’s claim, there is also the imprint of her signature on a page of the document that clearly states that Frank McCourt is the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This latest piece of scientific detection could keep Jamie from gaining a 50 percent share of the Dodgers franchise.

“We’ve got the same staple and her signature on something she claims she never signed,” said Susman, “which proves all along she was not telling the truth.”

Jamie still contends that the lawyer who drafted the document, Larry Silverstein, may have gone over a different draft with her than the one that Frank McCourt had signed.

This divorce case gave few signs that it would go away quietly, and if this latest dispute is any indication, gossip hounds can look forward to extra innings for the McCourts.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

In this week’s celebrity divorce news, R&B singer, actress and record producer Christina Milian has filed for divorce from her husband, the record producer known as The-Dream. Also, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has filed for divorce from his wife of 16 years, after which she was arrested for DUI.

Milian and her husband, Terius “The-Dream” Nash, confirmed their split via their representatives, signaling an end to their year-long marriage, according to People.com. They had decided to split up in late 2009, but the couple kept the news private until recently in order to protect the privacy of their newborn daughter, Violet.

Questions had arisen not long ago as pictures came out of The-Dream in an embrace with and personal assistant at the beach in the Caribbean. Confirmation that Milian and The-Dream were no longer together quickly followed.

The couple eloped in Las Vegas in September of 2009, after The-Dream proposed to Milian in July with a 6-carat diamond ring. Their daughter was born in February.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., meanwhile, filed for divorce from his wife Mary, just days before she was set to appear in court to face DUI charges.

While neither party is speaking with the media, the New York Daily News is reporting that sources are suggesting that Mary’s trouble with the law sprang from Robert Kennedy’s efforts to get a divorce.

On May 13, a day after Robert Kennedy filed for divorce, the police were called to the troubled couple’s home in Bedford, New York. In the domestic incident report, it was recorded that Robert told police that his wife was intoxicated.

Following close on the heels of those legal troubles came Mary’s May 15 DUI arrest. She was stopped outside of the St. Patrick’s School in Westchester, and she measured a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 percent. She pleaded not guilty to the charge, but still had her license suspended and was ordered by a judge to undergo an evaluation to determine if she had an alcohol abuse problem.

This is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s second divorce. He was married to his first wife, Emily Ruth Black, for almost 12 years before he quickly divorced her in 1994. Only weeks later, he married Mary.

She is an architectural designer, according to the New York Daily News. Recently, she was featured in a coffee table book about herself and RFK converting their home into a more environmentally friendly “green house.” She also worked with her husband on environmental initiatives like the National Resources Defense Council and his Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper movements.

A source told the New York Daily News that RFK’s decision to divorce his wife was not related to the legal issues that she has faced recently.

Mary is scheduled to appear in court again in late July. Her lawyer declined to comment to the press about the case, and Robert did not return calls from the press.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

From movie stars to championship athletes, the round-up of celebrity divorce news continues to show that the rich and famous are as likely to split as the rest of us.

Sandra Bullock and Jesse James have finalized the divorce that began with the scandalous news that James had been having an extramarital affair with a woman who was found to have posed for photos while wearing Nazi paraphernalia. CNN is reporting the finalization, as well as the news that the divorced couple will continue to co-parent James’ three kids, aged 6, 12 and 15.

The completion of the divorce also lets Bullock finish the adoption proceedings for her 6-month old son, Louis.

A source told People Magazine, “it’s not like they’re talking every day, but they’re in touch about things. It really seems like it’s about the kids more than anything.”

Bullock has been spending time with her son in New Orleans and Austin, Texas. James has apparently also made clear his intention to move to Austin also.

A friend of James’ told People that the biker bad boy wants normalcy back in his life, and a sense of family.

Another celebrity divorce was finalized, as NBA star Dwyane Wade and wife Siovaughn formally ended their marriage in Cook County, Illinois.
Dwyane expressed relief that the divorce was complete after a three year separation process, according to the Chicago Tribune. “I feel relieved,” he said outside of the courtroom. “It’s been a long, long process, and to finally get this behind us, I feel great, even though we still have more to get done.”

Wade was referring to the fact that the division of the couple’s assets and custody of the couple’s children remains up in the air. Siovaughn and her representation have said that as a result of these loose ends they will appeal the judge’s decision to dissolve the marriage. Her lawyer’s claim is that it isn’t proper to dissolve a marriage before the assets division and custody arrangements have been completed.

The ex-wife of Michael Douglas has claimed that she is entitled to half of his earnings for his upcoming Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps film. Diandra Douglas cites a provision in their 2000 divorce saying that she had a right to half of the earnings he made from any movie of his made during their twenty years of marriage, according to the Herald Sun.

According to her lawyer, the provision includes spin-offs of movies made during that time. The original Wall Street movie was made in 1987.

“It’s the same character, the same title, just years later,” said Diandra’s lawyer to the judge. The debate circles around whether a spin-off is different from a sequel.

The couple went through a vicious divorce in 2000, in which Diandra alleged that Michael was a sex addict, and a habitual adulterer. Diandra received a reported $45 million in assets in the case.

The couple have recently been in the spotlight for the arrest and conviction of their son, Cameron, on drug-dealing charges. Even at that time, Michael had little good to say about his ex-wife, claiming that she was a “young mother without any parenting skills handed down from her own parents.”

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Edwards has no plans to divorce her estranged husband John, despite his long-term affair and child with former campaign videographer Rielle Hunter.

Edwards spoke of her marital commitment in an interview conducted with People Magazine. In the interview, topics range from her tumultuous personal life in the tabloids, to the nature of her life-threatening cancer and its treatments.

According to People, Edwards discussed her estranged husband in the interview, saying that “John’s conduct through this whole thing was terrible and it makes people want him to pay for it. On a personal level, he’s paid a lot.”

John was a presidential candidate for a time, as well as the governor of North Carolina before news of his affair broke and led to his political downfall.

It wasn’t easy for Elizabeth Edwards to leave her husband, even given the public scandal. She finally did, though, close the door on him, so that she could move on from it, as she struggles with her own illness and the uncertainty of her future.

The treatment for her cancer is stringent, the interview with People revealed. Elizabeth must take chemotherapy injections through the breast every day. These treatments can last up to several hours at a time.

In the interview, Elizabeth also put an end to the rumor that she would not want John to play a part in her kids’ lives after her death. She has, the article said, every confidence in John’s abilities as a parent.

Elizabeth doesn’t know how long she has to live, but she told the magazine that she would like to live at least eight more years, which would give her time to see her 10-year-old son Jack graduate from high school, to see her daughter Emma select a college major, and to witness her 28-year-old daughter Cate marry her longtime boyfriend.

Cate Edwards also wrote an essay about her mother for the issue of People that will run the interview. According to CBS News, that essay is “short and sweet,” and it does not mention her father’s infidelity or public scandal except to say that her mother taught her how to show grace when “somehow [your life] becomes savaged by people you never invited into it.”

According to Cate, she remains close with her father.

Elizabeth said she does not know if John still sees the woman that he had the affair with, Rielle, but that she would probably be the last one to know, anyhow. John has denied that the two still see each other.

Elizabeth didn’t know if she would work again, in the face of her illness. “Nobody wants to hire the girl with cancer,” she told People.

When asked if she was dating, she continued the theme, saying “it would surprise me even more if someone fell in love with me.”

Though she wasn’t planning on divorcing John, she does allow that she would get a divorce if one of the couple planned on marrying somebody else.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

TV’s Frasier Crane probably wouldn’t have used Twitter, but the actor who played him, Kelsey Grammer, is using the social media platform to share news and thoughts on his ongoing divorce from his wife and former Playboy Playmate Camille.

With celebrities using social media to bypass the traditional media and engage directly with their fans, it shouldn’t be a surprise when a celebrity shares their thoughts on a major life event.

Kelsey Grammer, the star of TV shows like “Cheers” and “Frasier,” isn’t surprising many, then, as the latest celeb to give his own take on the rumors by broadcasting his thoughts online. He even went so far as to confirm rumors of his divorce from wife Camille via Twitter, according to E News.

“Hello everyone thank you for ur support and Yes it’s TRUE Camille and I are Divorcing I ask U 2 respect our privacy in these difficult,” the Grammer tweeted recently.

Grammer’s public representative followed up with a statement that included a few more periods and completed words. “Kelsey and Camille value privacy. They understand that private lives sometimes get played out in public but ask on this occasion that their privacy—and the privacy of their children—be respected.”

Grammer would take it a step further by blogging on a fan site about the divorce, attempting to set the record straight about various rumors that had been circling online celebrity news sources, which are reporting that he didn’t call his children on Father’s Day, and that he was seen out on the town canoodling with a woman that was not his wife.

“I have had a very interesting week to say the least,” he wrote.

Grammer listed in some detail his activities on Father’s Day as a way to say that he had, in fact, attempted to speak to his children on the holiday. He also that the woman that he was seen out with was actually his daughter.

“I do take issue with the characterization that we were smooching but surely if that were the case then even I admit it might be newsworthy in some fashion,” he said of the botched reports about a tryst with a mystery woman.

Kelsey and Camille were married for 13 years before the divorce proceedings started. Camille was the one to ultimately file the divorce papers, though the couple had discussed the possibility already. She noted that irreconcilable differences were the cause for the divorce. She is seeking primary custody of the couple’s children, who are 8 and 5-years-old.

This is Grammer’s third marriage. He and Camille met on a blind date in 1996. They married a year later. She is a former Club MTV dancer and Playboy model. She will be a figure in the upcoming reality show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Grammer is currently starring in a Broadway production of La Cage Aux Folles.

As a couple, they own homes in New York, Colorado, Malibu and Maui.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Tiger Woods has been making headlines for his off golf course life for months now. In his record-breaking divorce from his soon to be ex-wife Elin, reportedly worth a staggering $627 million, Woods has apparently agreed to keep single women away from his three-year-old daughter Sam and one-year-old son Charlie.

According to the Herald Sun, Woods can only bring a woman around the children if he has married her.

Elin gets the $627 million as well as the assurance that Woods will keep any women away from the children, but Woods isn’t leaving empty handed. Elin has agreed to never publicly speak out about what she knows of his supposed flings with socialite Rachel Urchitel, reality star Jaimee Grubbs, porn star Joslyn James or any of the 17 other supposed affairs.

In a world where Tiger Woods is trying to cling to what little is left of his reputation, the ability to keep the truth buried could easily be more valuable than the money he is shedding out.

Elin is prevented from tell-all books, or TV appearances for the rest of her life, even if Tiger dies first. If Elin breaks her portion of the agreement, she will lose a very substantial portion of her settlement.

Elin will have sole physical custody of the children, but the two will reportedly split legal child custody. This gives Woods a share in the decisions about the children’s futures, which he could use to prevent Elin from moving back to her native Sweden with the children.

With the current arrangement, Woods would be able to see each of his children for up to half a week. The agreement also allows for Woods to renegotiate the custody agreement in five years, should he chose to do so.

Reports are that even Elin admits that, despite his actions, Tiger still loves the children and has been a decent father to them.

But with this unusual clause, Tiger can only bring married women not romantically linked to him around the children, and female members of the staff the Elin knows.

No one can say just how much all the book deals and television interviews would have been worth to Elin. Despite the unlikelihood of them being worth anywhere near as much as the settlement she received, it is important to remember that she would have received a substantial amount regardless of if she agreed to prenuptial agreement which prevents her from telling everything she knows.

According to one of Elin’s friends, left anonymous, “Elin is desperate to protect the children from the womanizing side of their father.”

If this anonymous source is accurate, then Elin made a move to protect her children, and gave up her opportunity to say everything she knows about Tiger. It is nice to see someone in as difficult a spot as her doing what she thinks is right for the children and not acting in vengeance.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Gary Coleman, whose fame began as a child star in “Diff’rent Strokes”, died on May 28. At the time, Coleman was legally divorced from his wife, Shannon Price, since August of 2008. After Coleman’s death, Price filed a petition to be the administratrix Coleman’s estate.

Price is claiming that despite the couple’s divorce, she’s still Coleman’s common law wife. According to the Chicago Tribune, Price has attached documents stating that the couple, “assumed all marital rights, duties and obligations consistent with a marital relationship after the [divorce] decree was entered” even filing taxes as a married couple.

In Coleman’s will, which was signed several years before meeting Price, Coleman’s former manager Dion Mial is named as his estate’s executor. Price has, among other items, attached a handwritten note from 2007 which was supposedly intended to amend any earlier will and name Price the sole heir of “his earnings, home, toy trains and other property.”

Mial’s attorney, who had not read Price’s filing, called the argument of common law marriage “an interesting theory” and said that, “I just don’t know how a court would find on that question.”

Coleman has had his cremation on hold while the legal disputes is settled. In contention are Coleman’s assets which include his Utah home valued at around $315,000, and a collection of toy trains. Both Coleman’s ex wife, Price, and his former girlfriend and manager, Anna Gray, are claiming to be the lawful administratrix of his estate.

Gray’s attorney claims that Coleman and Gray knew each other for eight years and that she moved to Utah and lived with Coleman briefly before Coleman and Price started their romantic relationship in 2005.

Mial has declined to contest for control as the administrator of Coleman’s estate because he believes that a will naming Gray the administratrix takes precedent over the 1999 will naming him, citing the fact that the Gray will is more recent.

Coleman’s estranged parents, Sue and Willie, said they are not attempting to make their son’s funeral arrangements. The parents stated that they wanted Coleman to rest and they want him to be left alone.

Price’s claim as the heir of Coleman’s estate is hinged on her contention that she and Coleman were still common-law husband and wife. Her evidence is mainly that the two continued to live together, share bank accounts and even present themselves as husband and wife. Price was the one who made the 911 call on May 26, and during the call she referred to Coleman as her husband.

Price and Coleman’s divorce was not public until after the actor’s death, giving more evidence to the notion that the two still acted as a married couple.

Not all states have common-law marriage, but it will be interesting to see how the judge rules in this case.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

The latest tales of celebrity divorce involve two powerful women in the music business: Shania Twain and Sarah McClachlan.

According to CBS News, country music superstar Shania Twain has finalized her divorce from ex-husband Robert “Mutt” Lange. The two were married for 14 years, and separated in May of 2008.

Shortly following their separation, there came the allegation that Lange was engaged in an extramarital affair with the couple’s secretary and caretaker of their Swiss chateau, Marie-Anne Thiebaud. In an odd twist, Twain has been spotted around town spending close time with Thiebaud’s ex-husband, Frederic.

Twain is also steering her career in a different direction, with a new TV series that will air on the Oprah Winfrey Network, called “Why Not? With Shania Twain.” And according to CBS, there are even rumors that she could be replacing feisty Brit Simon Cowell as a judge on the very popular singing competition show American Idol.

The divorce’s finalization doesn’t seem to have Twain hung up. Sources said that she “looked radiantly happy” on the arm of Thiebaud at a recent gala event.

For songstress Sarah McLachlan, her personal struggles, including a divorce from husband Ashwin Sood, provided her with the material that would fill her first album since 2003. She and Sood, who is a drummer, were married for 11 years, and they have two daughters together.

The new album is “Laws of Illusion,” and many of its songs deal with themes that emerged as a result of McLachlan’s divorce and subsequent heartbreak.

“The emotional roller coaster of the past couple years played heavily,” McLachlan told Toronto’s CTV. “I find it very difficult to write when I’m happy. It’s a fleeting, light-hearted experience and you don’t want to analyze it because I’m sure you’ll find something wrong with it if you looked hard enough.”

When there’s heartbreak and sadness, she went on, there is more to grab onto and wrench the emotional content out of. In the midst of the most intense emotional turmoil, McLachlan didn’t have the time to write music, however. Just taking care of her two daughters was enough, along with trying to figure out where to go from there, like many people must do when they are faced with divorce.

“My world sort of fell apart,” she said “and I just had to work to figure out what the heck I was going to do next.” McLachlan explained that it was easier for her to write music after the fact, when the deepest emotional angst had passed on.

When she did begin to write about the divorce, if not in specific terms then in general emotional themes, it came easily to her.

McLachlan has said that she has difficulty analyzing her own musical work, despite her articulate descriptions of songs and lyrics and music.

When asked how the past few years of turmoil affected her, she replied, “God, I hope I’m a bit wiser. I certainly feel like I’ve been through the wringer the past couple years. And I feel like, all these experiences, good and bad, are where we grow—especially the hard times. That’s where you find out what you’re really made of.”

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.