Last December, Chris Rock filed for divorce from his wife of 19 years, Malaak Compton. Things got messy really fast. We heard updates about how Malaak wanted sole custody of their two daughters. She (allegedly) wouldn’t let Chris see the kids very often, which upset him because he “lives for his children” and arranges his schedule around school pickups.
Both parties leaked information to the press. Malaak talked up her charitable pursuits with People, and a Page Six source said Rock was befuddled at her obvious positioning. Rock’s camp rallied around him, saying he “just wasn’t happy in the marriage anymore. There is no third party involved.” Then he reportedly partied with a “mystery woman“ in St. Barts on New Year’s Eve. He recently admitted being “sad outta [his] f***ing mind” over the split. He is maintaining two houses, one for Malaak and one for himself.
Six months later, and the divorce is still ongoing. Chris and Malaak have agreed on joint custody. The finances are still a sticking point. The prenup is off the table due to a sunset clause, and Page Six says Malaak wants to maintain her lifestyle:
Comedian Chris Rock’s estranged wife wants to live the life of a celebrity spouse even after they’re divorced.
Malaak Compton-Rock is demanding a huge hunk of her husband’s $70 million fortune so she can maintain a Champagne-and-caviar lifestyle, a copy of her divorce papers reveals.
The stay-at-home mom married the ex-Saturday Night Live star in 1996 after they met at the Essence Awards while she was working in public relations. She soon gave up her career and became a full-time mother, court papers say.
Compton-Rock, 46, now spends much of her time caring for the couple’s kids — Lola Simone, 13, and Zahra Savannah, 11 — in their posh home in Alpine, NJ, where their neighbors include singer Mary J. Blige and Yankee pitcher CC Sabathia.
Both parties agree their prenup has expired under a sunset clause, meaning they could face a battle over the eight-figure family bank account, a filing in Bergen County court shows. The papers also say she and Rock, 50, have already agreed to 50-50 child custody.
Compton-Rock spends her free time on the charity circuit. She runs a group called The Angel Rock Project and in 2008 appeared as a judge on the ABC reality show Oprah’s Big Give, where she clinked Champagne glasses with actress Vivica A. Fox and Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco.
The court filings say Compton-Rock deserves a payout “commensurate with the marital standard of living” because of all her child-rearing and charitable endeavors.
[From Page Six]
This report sounds completely shady. Page Six has been pro-Chris since he filed for divorce, and it’s interesting that they acquired a copy of the papers. Rock currently pays for Malaak’s home and living expenses for the sake of his daughters. I can’t blame him for wanting Malaak to support herself, but he may end up getting screwed by the sunset clause of his prenup. Does she really have a “champagne-and-caviar lifestyle“? Who knows. This whole story is unfortunate, and both Chris and Malaak are playing dirty with the press.
Photos courtesy of WENN
If my husband was worth $70 million, I’d have a champagne and caviar lifestyle too. Let’s be real.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would never ever want to marry a guy who has so much more money than I do. I would never feel like his equal.
me too and lets be real if you marry a person with that much money AND fame you will never be an equal.
they have been together a very long time. She was with Chris before his career completely took off.
Husband – yes. Ex-husband – no.
Exactly.
Right?
She is partly responsible for his success. She deserves a fair part.
She gave up a career of her own to have a family while he went off and earned big bucks.
Go get your share girl!
You have to be kidding.
If he is in Hollywood, what career did she have that was worth pursuing? I”m sure she will get half his money by law, but I don’t think she was partly responsible for his success unless she is a comedy writer. More like HE’S responsible for HER success.
Yeah, that whole “50-50” equality thing. You live by it, you have to die by it. Fork it over Chris. Your marriage and the roles each of you played in it (bread winner, stay at home mom, etc.) were a mutual agreement, and each benefits equally from the proceeds (financial and otherwise) of that partnership.
+1
My husband stayed home with our kids for 8 days while I went overseas for my father’s funeral and when I came back he had tears in his eyes apologizing for having nasty thoughts in his HEAD about me being lazy while he was doing all the work. Our kids were 1,2 and 4 at the time. People don’t understand how much work small children can really become and that you have zero down time.
Being a stay at home parent does not make you less of a part of how the home works.
don’t know who came up with the numbers, but there is info out there on how much you’d have to pay a professional to do all that a “stay at home” mom does.
child care of 1, 2, or more children + house cleaning services + pet care + shopping + cooking…
so you’d need a nanny/babysitter, a maid, a dog walker/trainer, a personal shopper, and a chef. it adds up to quite a bit.
@ marie
Thank you for your comment!
Totally, this was not some 6 mo. gold-digging adventure. He has a career that puts him on the road and causes so much financial insecurity in the early years. If she held down the fort and stood by him, then, yeah — 50% Chris.
…and “getting screwed by the sunset clause” of a prenup, just means you enjoyed such a long and happy marriage that your freaking pre-nup EXPIRED.
@ Heather
Yes! Exactly!
Yeah he should def give her a hefty payout.
I agree, pay her off like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron did with their exes and move on. Chris Rock can make more money.
It doesn’t matter what Page 6 says about her lifestyle, if the prenup has expired then that money is considered a joint marital asset and he’s gotta pay up.
Give her the money.. then go on a comedy tour, do a few movies and write another book and recoup the funds. Chris can earn some of that back.
I hate messy divorces.
Yes, he earned the money. And yes, they can afford help.
But she was his better half through his success and the mother of his children. He needs to pay.
it certainly sounds very aggressive. this whole caviar and champagne really is about making her look greedy, you normally dont read it that blunt.
Champagne and caviar does just sound silly, to me. What is this, 1950?
They were a gorgeous family.
You make a mistake when you don’t settle these things in a hurry. She’s not a two year relationship looking for half; nineteen years is a long damn time, she gave up a career so that the family could revolve around him, and he’s the one surrounded by cheating rumors.
Give her the house and twenty million, do an HBO special to get it back or don’t and manage to live off the remaining $50 million, and everybody moves on without the nasty headlines.
Truth.
Yeah, 19 years married? This was no flash in the pan marriage. 5 years and under I don’t think wives (or husband’s) deserve large payouts, but if you make it to almost 20 years you sure as hell earned it.
I agree, especially if you marry someone who was already rich and don’t leave your career to raise kids.
Also, I’m happy that Chris Rock likes to pick his kids up from school, but a whole lot of work goes into getting child-rearing down to that.
No one thinks Rock should be left destitute, but I’m pretty sure he can make a go of it on 35 mil.
This is the woman who had your children, and will co-parent them with you until you die. You have two daughters and you need to think about what you’re teaching them about men and marriage if you refuse to maintain the life to which they have all become accustom when you go. (And please note most men also have something to say when the ex does go out and get a job with some $$…..) This is no time to be petty.
GIVE. HER. THE. MONEY.
She gave up her career to keep the family together — of course she got used to a certain way of living as he moved up the food chain.
I am glad they settled on shared custody and after 19 years anything up to a 50/50 split seems fair. It is one thing to try and over turn a prenup after a few months, quite another when it passes its sell by date.
While I agree he should be generous and there is much to be respected about stay at home mothers, I still wonder how much money is enough? Why does she need millions upon millions to be happy? Is this money above and beyond his maintaining the family home for her and their girls or is that mortage included or taken over by her once the divorce & settlement are finalized? It just seems bitter to demand that level of money. Yes, she gave up her career to be a house wife and mother, but the kids are all in school now, so why not do something with her education and intelligence now? I can’t help but think negatively at the aspect of wandering around shopping all day while your kids are in school or even making a life of giving your money away to various charities. Demanding ridiculous amounts of money that go way beyond need and even extravangance carries an element of bitterness and punishment to me. I hope she gets back in the PR arena or something that stimulates her intellegence. I think they’re both being petty and I think it’s really sad that yet another marriage we had confidence in has bitten the dust and for what….cheating with fangirls. What a shame!
Uhm… there is such a thing as division of property law. And it addresses the inequality that results in many if not most marriages where women stop working or take a less financially rewarding career path to focus on the kids and supporting the spouse… and if a divorce occurs after 19 years, where she has spent this time raising a family instead of being in the corporate world, we now punish her for that? Why should she not have the right to half of their common assets??
I actually brought this up with my husband since I am a stay at home mom. His view is after 20 years it’s 50/50. You both had a hand in everything together. If it’s a much shorter marriage a small lump. He said she should at very least get a house and a million for every year they were married.
I was glad he and I felt the same.
Here is my very bias opinion about this….
I am more inclined to believe, Malaak wants more than half. Like she is looking for a life time payout. As in, she wants a flat percentage % of his future income too. Plus that 50% of what they have now.
It is what Michael Douglas’ wife, got in her divorce. It is the thing to demand if a spouse, who will always have a decent income from their body of work. (past and future… and Douglas’ ex-wife has dragged him into court many times over looking for her cut.)
That money income, pays out yearly. Even if they never work again. Very popular with the actor/musician set of folks. Their library of work continues to pay. Even after they die.
By securing that percentage… the spouse (who is the earner) is never rid of the ex-spouse, being in their bank account. Ever. Which I suspect is not an appealing idea, to anyone already offering up half.
I don’t believe Chris Rock is trying to screw her over. As much as he is not interested in paying for her life style, after giving her half of what they have now. Plus child support and most likely alimony. Then add it to it, the demands of his future income.
But by getting that percentage of all his past and future work. She will be able to keep up her life style, that seems very important to her.
The only “future income” that Diandra Douglas was/is entitled to remains a percentage of the residuals on movies that Michael Douglas made when they were married. Because that ‘asset’ is still making income, as A RESULT of work that he did when their income was joint property, she is still entitled to half.
Unless you have a pre-nup stating otherwise, if the wife runs the house, raises the children, and manages day-to-day life while the husband works – his income is their income for the duration of that intact household.
“If you make 20 million, and your wife want 10, big deal. You ain’t starving.”
-Chris Rock
I was totally thinking about this. That whole routine he did about prenups 20 years is coming back and smacking him in the face.
Good point! I remember the stand up special when he said this. How prophetic.
I never quite get high end divorces. They were married 19 years split it 50/50 per law, and I wouldn’t ask for alimony give me 35 mill, I think I can live off of that even with my champagne taste, and I wouldn’t want the hassle of alimony collection. Child support put in a special account. Why would either want to keep paying the lawyers, because the longer it goes on the more the lawyers make and they lose.