Divorce attorneys in Pasadena have seen some high-priced child support settlements, but this staggering total is true a record-breaker. Supermodel Linda Evangelista is currently asking for $46,000 per month in child support for 4-year-old Augustin James, her son with French billionaire Francois Henri-Pinault.
On Monday, Evangelista showed up at a Manhattan family court to argue her case. Support Magistrate Matthew Troy called the child support request "probably the largest support order in the history of the family court." The model's lawyer argued that the proposed $552,000 a year would cover the cost for nannies, drivers, security detail and living expenses for Augustin. Troy, who threw out a request for $75,000 in vacation expenses, mostly sided with the supermodel, saying, "these are the extraordinary expenses that may be a part of the child's life."
Evangelista defended the amount by noting that her demanding professional life requires a full-time staff to take care of her son.
"When I work, it can be a 16-hour day... on days when I do not work, I am working on my image," she said. Henri-Pinault currently pays no child support to Evangelista yet spends an estimated five-figure monthly sum on his 3-year-old daughter with wife Salma Hayek, according to her lawyer.
Last month, the fashion and celebrity worlds were rocked by the revelation that Henri-Pinault was the father of Augustin. He and Evangelista hooked up while he was briefly broken up with Hayek in 2006. Hayek gave birth to daughter Valentina in 2007 and the pair was married on Valentine's Day of 2009. Henri-Pinault is the CEO of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, the French clothing conglomerate that owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Yves St. Laurent. He is worth an estimated $11.5 billion. Evangelista, who is considered one of the highest-paid fashion models of all time, once famously quipped, "I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day."