Metro

Model Evangelista, billionaire baby daddy settle contentious child support battle

Supermodel Linda Evangelista reached a settlement today in her bitterly-contested child support battle with her billionaire French baby-daddy, Francois-Henri Pinault — then came to court wearing a sunny smile and a chiffon dress fit for a garden party.

“He has gone a long way toward meeting those original demands,” a source close to the negotiation said of Pinault, who had been on the hook for a potential $46,000 a month that Evangelista said she needed for the nannies, chauffeurs, bodyguards and other expenses of Augustin, the five-year-old son conceived during their whirlwind 2005 affair.

Pinault, 49, is the CEO of the Paris-based luxury conglomerate that owns Gucci and Yves St. Laurent. He is raising a four-year-old daughter, Valentina, with his glamorous wife, movie star Salma Hayek, who he met four months after ditching Evangelista in January, 2006 — right after learning the cat walker was pregnant.

In previous court hearings, Evangelista’s lawyer has complained that while Pinault lavishes wealth on Valentina, he paid virtually nothing to support Augie prior to a temporary court order last year.

Today’s surprise settlement — presumed to be snugly in the five-figures per month — was reached by telephone this morning, the source said, declining to give an exact figure.

The settlement came as an international press corps descended on the courthouse to cover Evangelista’s second day of testimony in the highly-publicized case.

Evangelista’s testimony, now no longer necessary, would have touched on such sensitive topics as whether Pinault initial preference was that the baby be aborted — something Evangelista was set to aver, and which Pinault has denied through a spokesman.

Evangelista’s “abortion” testimony would have dealt a public relations blow to the wealthy female clientele of Pinault, whose company also owns the luxury brands Bottega Veneta and Boucheron.

Had she taken the stand today, Evangelista, 46, was also due to detail how Pinault had asked for a DNA test prior to acknowledging paternity — another less-than-sympathetic revelation for the ladies who shop.

“The parties have reached an agreement in principal, which we will present to your honor tomorrow,” Evangelista lawyer William Beslow told the support magistrate in today’s brief proceeding, which was attended by both Evangelista and Pinault.

“I agree with what Mr. Beslow says and join in the agreement,” added Pinault’s lawyer, David Aronson.

The cat walker wore a summery, floral-print dress of pleated chiffon, and chatted almost warmly with her old flame as they left the courtroom, shoulders brushing.

In a previous hearing last year, she had presented Pinault with a list of little “Augie’s” expenses totaling more than $46,000 a month — a figure that included $15-16,000 a month for gun-toting, ex-NYPD detective chauffeurs, plus a 24-hour nanny costing almost $7,000 a month.

“I say this with Mr. Beslow beside me — everybody’s glad,” Aronson told reporters afterward.

“For the sake of the child,” he added.

The lawyers — though not Pinault and Evangelista — will return to court tomorrow as a formality, to show the magistrate the paperwork for their settlement. It is not likely that the dollar amounts or any other details will be put on the court record, Aronson said.

Just how well Evangelista and Augie made out remains a mystery.

But another source who was informed of the negotiations insisted that the final number “Is not close to the original demands,” meaning not near the $46,000 number initially bandied about.