When celebrities marry other celebrities, you would hope that they would sign a prenuptial agreement to keep their finances intact if a split were to occur. And you would especially hope that a celebrity marrying a non-celebrity would have the brains to keep their bank accounts safe if they were to get dumped for their money. However, not every celebrity believes that protecting their money is a big fat deal. Those celebs are the ones that end up paying the price when it comes to the Big D. And sometimes those prenups end up being a good deal in itself.
Here is a list of the 10 Most Expensive celebrity divorces that left these stars probably wishing they never got married in the first place.
10. TED DANSON AND CASEY COATES: $30 MILLION
Ted Danson made it big with his role as bartender on Cheers and if you can believe it, throughout his years as a big star, Danson remained married and committed to his first wife Casey Coates. It was after his wife suffered from a stroke during the birth of their first child that Danson took time off of work to take care of Casey. However after their second child was born the couple had a fallout and eventually divorced in 1992. Rumor has it that what led to the divorce was Danson’s close relationship to Made in America co-star Whoopi Goldberg. I know, right? While $30 million may not seem like a lot of money for a celebrity divorce settlement, you have to realize this was twenty-some years ago! Thirty mil was a helluva lot of money.
9. MICHAEL DOUGLAS AND DIANDRA LUKER: $45 MILLION
Before his marriage to Catherine-Zeta Jones there was Diandra Luker. Not only during the late 1970′s was Douglas at the peak of his career, he apparently was at the peak of his sexuality as well. Back in 1977 Michael married Diandra and they managed to keep their marriage intact until 1997. Divorce was inevitable as Douglas met Zeta-Jones. After TWO years of settlement negotiations, Douglas gave in to paying $45 million to get rid of his ex and finally move on to marrying Catherine.
Unfortunately Michael wasn’t completely rid of Diandra as she filed an additional lawsuit against the actor claiming she is entitled to HALF of the money that he earned for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. She says that she is entitled to 50% of his earnings that he makes on any spin-offs from previous films. Talk about a greedy you know what!
8. PAUL MCCARTNEY AND HEATHER MILLS: $49 MILLION
Speaking of greedy you-know-what’s, Heather Mills worked her damnedest to get all she could from ex-husband Paul McCartney. I remember when this nonsense was going on and all I could think of was ‘poor Paul’. Granted it takes two to tango, but that woman was determined to make Paul’s life living hell. Back in 2008, the court ordered Paul to fork over about $49 million to Mills for their four year marriage. That ended up being about $34,000 per day for each day she was married to the Beatles legend. I’d say that was a win-win for Heather.
7. MADONNA AND GUY RITCHIE: $76 MILLION
Usually it’s the woman that gets the big cash when a divorce looms, especially when there are children involved. But, not MADGE! Eight years is a long time to be married in Hollywood’s terms, but Madonna and Guy couldn’t keep their marriage intact. In 2008, Madge forked over $76 million to Guy. That’s not too shabby considering he also got back his freedom. Whether he likes it or not, Madonna will always be a part of his life because of Rocco, their little boy.
6. KEVIN COSTNER AND CINDY SILVA: $80 MILLION
Kevin Costner was another one of those guys who seemed to be in it for the long haul, however he couldn’t quite keep his marriage to Cindy Silva a healthy one. He married his college sweetheart before he became famous and fathered three children with her. however in 1994 they called it quits. Rumors swirled that Costner was unfaithful to Cindy, which supposedly let to Silva filing for divorce. She got custody of their kids PLUS $80 million in settlement.
5. HARRISON FORD AND MELISSA MATHISON: $85 MILLION
Many people didn’t even know that Harrison Ford was married to Melissa Mathison for 18 years. Their relationship was kept extremely private, as did their divorce. Back in 2004, the couple decided to split and Melissa made off with a killing. Not only did she receive an $85 million settlement, she also received earnings on movies Harrison made while he was married to her AND royalties AND DVD sales of 22 of his movies. No wonder why it took Harrison so damn long to make it official with Calista Flockhart.
4. STEVEN SPIELBERG AND AMY IRVING: $100 MILLION
Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful movie directors of all time so you could about imagine that Amy Irving had a hard time keeping herself out of the spotlight. After four years of marriage and one child later, the couple got a divorce. Even though there was a prenup signed, it basically did no good because a legal rep was not present for the signing. Therefore, Irving earned herself a whopping $100 million settlement.
3. NEIL DIAMOND AND MARCIA MURPHEY: $150 MILLION
After 33 years of marriage, Neil Diamond and his 2nd wife Marcia Murphy called it quits. Instead of being a big fat nasty feud, Neil admitted that Marcia earned every single penny that she received as a settlement. Murphey’s paycheck? $150 million.
2. MICHAEL JORDAN AND JUANITA VANOY: $168 MILLION
Michael Jordan and his wife Juanita met in 1989 and quickly married after that. Three kids, 350 million dollars and 18 years of marriage later, the couple called it quits. Not only did Juanita receive $168 million of that, she also received custody of their three kiddos AND their seven-acre estate in Chicago. Score! This is also one of those scenarios where I got to give the wife credit. I’m sure she went through a lot just by being married to Michael. Girlfriend EARNED that settlement!
1. TIGER WOODS AND ELIN NORDEGREN: $750 MILLION
Tiger was busted for a ton of alleged flings with porn stars, reality stars and most famously socialite Rachel Uchitel. Elin got one of the biggest divorce settlements ever, with a whopping $750 million. You can also bet that Woods has to pay out child support for their two children Sam and Charlie.
Do you see any celebrity couples that should have made the list? Share with us in the comments section below.
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