Back when Kelly Rutherford was fighting her ex husband for custody of their two children, son Hermes, 10, and daughter Helena, 7, she declared bankruptcy. That was in 2013, after her gig on Gossip Girl was over and when her legal bills were higher than she could afford. She eventually lost primary custody of her children to her ex, Daniel Giersch, a German national who lives in Monaco. Part of the reason why it cost her so much, and why she ultimately lost custody, is because she was unwilling to compromise with Giersch, which multiple judges in various jurisdictions noticed. The Daily Mail is now reporting that after four years Kelly’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case has finally been settled. She still owes substantial debts to creditors, including her legal team and ex husband, but it’s all been discharged.
Actress Kelly Rutherford’s three-year bankruptcy case is finally coming to a close after a trustee filed his final report last Wednesday.
Though Rutherford, 48, might find peace in the decision, her ex-husband Daniel Giersch is bound to feel differently; he will only be paid $163,000 of his $1.5 million claim in the case.
The actress first filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2013. She claimed her assets totaled nearly $24,000, but her liabilities came to over $2 million.
Rutherford, who played cunning Lily van der Woodsen on the hit TV show Gossip Girl, owed more than $350,000 in back taxes, $25,000 in Amex charges and had a monthly income of just under $1,300.
Gossip Girl had aired its final season in late 2012 and the show was her primary source of income.
She later had her debts discharged, but the residual payments from shows including Gossip Girl were declared to be her only remaining asset.
The majority of her debt came from the $1.5 million spent on lawyer bills during her lengthy divorce and custody battle with German entrepreneur Giersch. The couple were only married for three years and their divorce was finalized in 2009 while Rutherford was pregnant with their second child…
The final bankruptcy report states the trustee brought in receipts totaling $200,000 and disbursed $6,000, leaving a balance on hand of $198,000.
American Express will receive nothing from its $36,300 claim in the case, and neither will Rutherford’s divorce layers, who lodged their own claim for $200,000.
A third family law firm, Meyer, Olson, Lowy & Meyers, which took on Rutherford’s custody battle, will also be paid nothing from its $1.1 million claim.
Here’s the thing, if you look at Kelly’s Instagram account she’s still living the high life. She goes to Cannes because it’s not far from her children and her ex pays for her trips. She goes skiing, she gets front row access at fashion week, she shops in high end boutiques and she gets comped clothes, jewelry and trips. Yet she still wasn’t held accountable for her debts because that’s the way the law works.
You see the purse that Kelly is carrying (below) while she’s shopping? That’s an Hermes Evelyne feed back and is worth $3,500 used. How does a woman who claims she has only $24k to her name and is $2 million in debt end up with a purse that’s worth over $3k? I don’t think it’s fake either. To be fair she was dating a guy who was an assistant general manager at Gucci, and who now runs the women’s department at Barney’s. It’s possible he gets good discounts or buys her presents but it’s not like he’s massively loaded and I doubt they’re still together. She hasn’t posted a photo of him in ages. (Also, in no way would I be insinuating she couldn’t buy her own purses, if she didn’t declare bankruptcy.)
Just a few more gems from her Instagram:
I’m pretty sure the bracelet she’s wearing below is Givenchy (Update: It’s Hermes. Thanks Sarah!) It was possibly lent to her for this event, but she has another, different one in black. (Note: it wasn’t given to her as noted in another post, the name bracelets were.)
Photos credit: FameFlynet
#thisbitch
So basically she got to flout the law, attempt to completely ruin her ex’s reputation and life, poison his own children against him and she gets to stroll away unscathed.
Disgusting.
A person like this shouldn’t be allowed to be a mother.
I’m mean–but I live in absolute GLEE that she went from a seriously handsome gazillionaire to an assistant manager of a department store. And I am guessing they are not together anymore.
I’m guessing Kelly thought Daniel was a huge pushover, with his cute baby faced self. Guess he showed her.
F*ck this Perma Victim/american citizen/White is the color of innocence ergo me Lady, she is just a walking bag of entitlement in an easy “mosquita muerta” outer core (Latinas Help me here – in Venezuela Mosquita Muerta= she who acts like she doesnt break a plate the Pic of feigned innocence)
love your new hair style. That colour…..❤
In México we would call her “Nina Fresa”!!
Niña fresa is just an uptown girly-girl who is now t into harsh sports of cheap stuff, mosquita muerta is someone who’s seems nice but will stab your back or flirt with your boyfred when you turn around.
Kelly seems to be both. She was playing Earth mother “I will breastfeed my children for four years – while I erase their father’s name from the birth certificate”
I know and use mosquita muerta and I believe (though am not 100% sure) that the English language equivalent is that she “acts like butter would not melt in her mouth.”
In other words, the little dead mosquita is pretending like it is harmless and the one who is so coldly shameless, well, butter is like to be in the refrigerator in their mouth. But in reality…
Mosquita Muerta bahahaha dead! That’s hard to translate other than conniving girl who plays innocent?
I knew ya kids would come through!!
thank LAK, with My sis and Almondjoy’s encouragement Im letting it just be curly and so… we shall see how this weed grows!
What are you saying?
Are you a racist?
How is it that completely irresponsible behavior is always rewarded in these bankruptcy cases? I mean come on, wtf, pay it off, as long as it takes, you spent it! Even though it’s kinda karmic that the law firm that agreed to represent her in trying to screw her ex is now getting screwed themself.
There should be a carve-out for medical bankruptcies and those caused by other unavoidable catastrophes but … over-shopping and frivolous lawsuits? Nah.
Yes, I was thinking that her lawyers are probably pissed AF.
Good luck trying to find a lawyer next time you’ll need one…
A huge portion of that is legal fees – and considering how many of them were billed when it was clear that she was off the rails, I don’t feel bad. No responsible legal firm should have been aiding Kelly.
She was not off the rails, stop making excuses for her horrid behavior.
The thing that’s so frustrating is bankruptcy laws have become more and more restrictive in recent years and made it very difficult for individuals who actually need the protection to get it without screwing up their lives.
This case makes me angry if for no other reason than Rutherford’s case will now become the poster child for people who want to even further limit bankruptcy. Just when I thought i couldn’t dislike this woman any more …
man it must be nice to be part of the rich, white 1%
It’s not just the rich that get to skate where a lot of these financial loopholes are concerned. My husband’s ex is by no means wealthy but managed to borrow for an attorney that made his life a living hell (while he represents himself because he’s not irresponsible with money) and then got away with not paying her. She didn’t pay her mortgage or HOA fees for YEARS and wasn’t expected to get my husband’s name off the Title because of the state of the market and wasn’t evicted, again because of the market. So she tanked his credit without ever seeing real consequences for herself. Then when we could finally force a sale, after a year of legal wrangling, she actually made 20k in cash on the condo while we were left dealing with the bad credit she gave him. She went out and bought a brand new car and constantly tells my SS they will be looking for a new condo. Scary thing is even with her history I bet she’ll get a loan. And she just started as a public school teacher, has no savings and refuses to take a job in the summer. There aren’t enough ramifications for financial irresponsibility and it’s responsible people who are left to deal with it. My poor SS is going to have to deal with the consequences of this when he’s trying to set up his own life and she can’t make it on her own.
thats crazy! my god, some people are great at that kind of shit..insane
LaLa, I know right? Isn’t it terrifying how freaking comfortable some people are with taking no responsibility for their actions and always playing the victim?
This is what happens when people get married. Don’t legally bind yourself to another person and you don’t have these financial problems. People never learn.
Is there any reason why this woman can’t get a job? Not just an acting job but any job?
The bracelet is Hermes and worth anywhere between $1000-1300 new. Probably part of the reason she is bankrupt!
The black bracelet is Hermes? I’ll update that! -edit- oh I see it now, the pink one is Hermes. Damn it’s even more expensive than I though. Thanks!
The watch in pic two is also Hermes. They retail at £1700-£2500 depending on style.
We are presuming that they are real and not high-quality fakes. There are some exceptional knockoffs if you know where to shop and do not mind breaking a whole slew of counterfeiting laws and supporting criminal activity. The Hermes handbag could be a fake, given that she is partially hiding it behind a shopping bag. If it is real, it may be something she bought during her marriage to Daniel.
I am the queen of fake bags. I assure everyone her Hermes Evelyn bag is authentic.
Makes me sick! Years ago, I filed for bankruptcy and paid every bit back. On a social worker’s salary no less.
So pennies on the dollar, rubbish! She and her actions disgusts me.
A lot of celebrities and “instagram celebrities” get paid for product placememt. It’s fairly likely that’s what’s actually going on with this woman. Getting paid to pose with certain products or having those products given to her in return for Instagram exposure.
This exactly. Plus, she probably thinks she’s hustling for work because she’s still hanging with these people in all of these places.
On the one hand she loves Hermes and tends to that label for everything, but on the other, Hermes is one of the few labels in the world that doesn’t do mass market branding. They like to keep the label exclusive to clientale and ambassadors, irrespective of wealth of said clients and ambassadors.
The good news is that you can purchase Hermes in various places online, so people that might be turned away from stores are able to get their hands on it. New and second hand.
Isn’t her son’s name or middle name “Hermes”? Call me a cynic, but given the shallowness of this woman, I can’t help but wonder of that wasn’t an attempt at “brand association” rather than a nod to the Greek God Hermes.
Well, she did name her son Hermes. I guess now we know where she came up with that.
Pic #3, wow, I nominate that as THE ugliest skirt that has ever appeared in any post on Celebitchy. Looks like someone found a bag of practice crochet squares from a 1970s Girl Scout craft class and stitched them all together.
How does a woman who claims she has only $24k to her name and is $2 million in debt end up with a purse that’s worth over $3k? It is easy. I work for a Bankruptcy attorney. This stuff happens all the time. Take Emperor Baby Fists, how many times has he declared Bankruptcy? A few times. It certainly did not stop him from funding his campaign or make him sell his beloved Trump Tower.
The rich rarely suffer any consequences, our entire legal/justice system is designed to benefit them. She got to walk away from a $2 million debt, but us regular folk have to live with student loan debt forever. I read awhile ago that seniors on Social Security are having their SS checks garnished to pay their student loan debt. It’s depressing and, sadly, it will never change.
This woman is the very definition of trash. She is a nasty self centered human being. She tried to ruin her ex’s do her children’s lives, she breaks the law, she kidnappés her kids, the list goes on and on. OH let’s also not forget she lied about her husband being a terrorist to get him deported. What a terrible human being. She’s truly evil.
Her filing said she has an income of $1300 per month.
Not trying to defend her because I don’t really know that much about her at all, but have recently read a bunch of articles on how instagram/youtube beauty gurus ‘live the high life’ – it’s all smoke and mirrors, wouldn’t be surprised she’s doing the same to stay relevant in Hollywood etc
Exactly!
Could you give the links to these articles? I’m super interested! A few of my friends are OBSESSED with these lifestyle bloggers – they worship them to the point it’s ridiculous.
I think that Katherine might be referring to the following article:
http://raisingbears.co.uk/why-ill-never-be-comfortable-with-zoella-the-smoke-and-mirrors-of-online-life/
But it feels like there is another article she might be talking about.
Thanks, Ash!
People get used to a certain lifestyle, and then can’t seem to give it up once they can’t afford it any more. Nothing wrong with a frugal lifestyle – she should try living within her means instead of faking wealth and then filing for bankruptcy. It is her own fault, and she should pay back the money she owes. Ex boy band members are classic bankruptcy cases – lots of money while they’re successful, but the success is short-lived, but they’re still spending the same amount every month. Lots of people don’t have the ability to adapt to changes in their finances, which is why this sort of thing happens.
With boy bands and other child/teen stars, I always wonder if it is simply that they never learned how to live normally. i.e. They were never out on their own, figuring out how to make a paycheque cover rent, food, and utilities. It’s an essential education, and young stars don’t really get it.
I knew guys in college who were idiots with money, at least for a while. With the boy bands, they’re behaving the same way those guys did, but with larger sums of money, so that the consequence of them not figuring out how to budget in time involves bankruptcy rather than eating Ramen noodles for a month.
Maybe Candy Spelling is supporting her like she is supporting her daughter Tori and all of her offspring. These two need to have all their luxuries taken away from them and be made to work a minimum wage job like a lot of Americans and learn to live on that type of pay. It would serve them right.
She’s never aspired to be anything more than what I call a UWW – Ultimate White Woman. She never made it via her acting. She’s a NYC hanger-on, trading on her slender fame and grabbing up freebies. She’s still spinning the same lies about the custody battle, albeit in obscure European publications. Her children are so fortunate to not live in her web of narcissism and insanity.
She’s getting the clothes for free that’s why she’s mention them on her posts. Smart.
Some of you are crazy!!!
Kelly is holding out for another multi millionaire to take care of her , so she never has to hustle as a common actress again. She reeks of entitlement. I hope she gets her cumuppence. Her kids are better off living the majority of their time with their father, his mother and the nanny. The minority of their time is spent with this pig of a woman luckily.
I remember her from Generations an old soap opera when she played a character called Sam. I don’t know about her business, but it’s impressive how she’s kept her looks all this time.