Gekko the Great wins again!
Academy Award-winner Michael Douglas today scored a huge victory in a Manhattan court after a judge threw out his ex-wife’s bid to get half of the millions he is earning from reprising the role of financial villain Gordon Gekko in the sequel to “Wall Street.”
“He’s thrilled,” Douglas’ lawyer, Marilyn Chinitz, said about the decision to dismiss Diandra Douglas’ lawsuit that has sought a big cut of Douglas’ action from “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”
“This is the right decision,” Chinitz said, adding that Douglas “sounded great” this morning when she called to tell him the good news. “This action should have never been brought in the first place.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Matthew Cooper ruled that a New York court was not the proper venue for the suit by Diandra Douglas. He dismissed her complaint on that narrow jurisdictional ground, without ruling on the merits of the case.
Diandra, 52, now has the option of re-launching the action in California, or of appealing Cooper’s decision.
Her lawyer, Nancy Chemtob, said, “We respectfully disagree with the decision, and intend to appeal. Both parties are residents of New York, and the case should be decided here.”
Diandra had sued Michael, 65, in June, claiming that their 2000 divorce settlement entitled her to 50 percent of any money he received from movies that he did during their two decades of marriage.
Her lawyer Chemtob had said the divorce agreement contained a clause that gave the ex-wife money from any “spinoffs” of Douglas’ movies from that time-frame, including the 1987 hit “Wall Street” for which his portrayal of Gekko won him an Oscar for Best Actor.
But Michael Douglas’ lawyer Chinitz had argued that Diandra had no claim on his money from “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which opened in September, because that movie was a sequel and not a spinoff.
Chinitz also had argued that Diandra’s case belonged in a court in California — where the couple divorced — and not in Manhattan Supreme Court, despite the fact that both Diandra and Michael now live in New York. Michael is now remarried to the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Chinitz today said that California was the appropriate venue for several reasons, including the fact that California law about community property would control the case where ever it was litigated. She also noted that California judges were already familiar with the Douglas divorce case, and that that state’s judges are “used to dealing with issues involving the film industry,” including the one at the center of Diandra’s claim.
The lawyer had previously said that in 1997, Diandra made a videotaped statement agreeing that any future disputes in the divorce settlement would be heard in a California court.
Chinitz today said that she believed that Diandra had filed suit in New York because “she was afraid to bring it to California” court.
If Diandra now re-files the case in California, Chinitz predicted, “She’s going to lose on the merits,” arguing that California judges would found her claim baseless given the divorce settlement agreement.
Today’s legal decision is a welcome bit of good news for Michael Douglas, who recently has been treated for Stage 4 throat cancer, and whose son with Diandra, Cameron, was sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year for possessing and dealing drugs.