Having failed to reach an agreement over maintenance payments for their son, Linda Evangelista and her ex, French billionaire François-Henri Pinault, are back in court. The 'super' arrived at a Manhattan Family Court, impeccably dressed and ready to state her case during a hearing that is expected to last four days.
Augustin, now aged five, was the result of a brief affair at the end of 2005 before Francois – a scion of the family that owns luxury clothing company PPR – began a relationship with actress Salma Hayek. He and the Latin screen goddess went on to marry and in September 2007 they had a daughter named Valentina.According to the New York Post, her lawyer William Beslow told the judge: "After some initial happiness, he told her he wished she would terminate the pregnancy." He added that she decided to have the child alone and support him herself.His client has asked for $46,000 a month in childcare, saying it is needed for a round-the-clock nanny and security guards.When the billionaire businessman took the stand he talked about the moment when he found out that his girlfriend was expecting.
"I asked her what was her intention with the pregnancy. I was not involved in the decision of having babies," he said. "We were dating four months and I didn't even know her very much." The Frenchman admitted the relationship ended because he had not planned on starting a family with her. "She was so happy to be pregnant," he remembered. "But it was not planned. I decided to stop the relationship at that point."
Asked then by Linda's lawyer whether he believed she had intentionally become pregnant, he answered: "Well, she can answer that but I guess.""I was not involved in the decision of having a baby," he said. "Then of course, I told her I would recognise the baby which I did. I would take my responsibility and I did. "François has previously said the little boy is "totally integrated" within his family and Valentina, four, treats him like her brother.
