Kenneth Starr managed to hook a host of boldface Hollywood and Broadway names as clients until his alleged scam began to unravel and they ran to get their money back from him.
Uma Thurman hired Starr to pay her bills and do her taxes. But after she discovered she had lost $1 million to the slick financial adviser, she stormed into his office on April 26 and demanded her money back.
Starr managed to pay the “Kill Bill” star back the very next day — by using the money from a former talent agent and the agent’s wife, federal prosecutors said yesterday.
Word of Thurman’s angry confrontation with Starr spread like wildfire through the showbiz community. In the last few weeks, several clients called Starr to demand their money back.
But he was giving them only half — one client got only $250,000 of the $500,000 demanded, sources said.
Other celebs got out earlier. Director Mike Nichols cashed out because he had suspicions, sources said. So did writer-director Nora Ephron.
Also getting out early were director Martin Scorsese and playwright Neil Simon. Starr bragged of his ties to the legendary film director, but Scorsese and his business manager bailed out long before Starr’s arrest yesterday.
Simon got suspicious a few weeks ago and successfully demanded the return of his investment, sources said.
But Al Pacino and Broadway writer Marshall Brickman were among the losers, sources said.
Wesley Snipes was hit by Starr in other ways. During Snipes’ 2008 trial for tax evasion in 2008, Starr testified about how he had lectured the “Blade” star about such dubious practices.
There was no word if Snipes — or other famed clients such as Sylvester Stallone — were victims of Starr in the charges released yesterday.
After dropping Starr, Stallone sued him, saying the money manager had advised him to keep his investment in Planet Hollywood restaurants while advising others the chain was headed for bankruptcy. The suit was eventually settled.
Photographer Annie Leibovitz had also dropped Starr before his indictment.
“News of Ken Starr’s arrest does not come as a complete surprise to me, and I will follow this story with great interest,” she said.