This is one of the rare times when a musician probably doesn’t want to top former Beatle Paul McCartney. Ex-Genesis front man Phil Collins reportedly was ordered to shell out a whopping $46.68 million to his now-ex-wife in their divorce. That’s $1 million more than one-legged harpie Heather Mills got from Sir Paul. And this isn’t Phil’s first time cutting a big fat check to an estranged wife, either.

Phil Collins has handed over £25million to his third wife in the biggest-ever divorce payout by a British showbiz star.

The massive settlement beats the £24.3million Paul McCartney recently handed over to Heather Mills and puts the £12.5million which Chris Tarrant settled on ex-wife Ingrid in the shade.

Genesis singer Phil, 57, has given the huge cash sum to Swiss beauty Orianne Cevey, 35, after just six years of marriage and two children.

And it is not the first time Phil has had to give away large chunks of his cash.

In 1994 he gave his second wife Jill Tavelman £17million after famously dumping her by fax.

It means he has now paid out more than £42million almost a third of his £140million fortune.

A music industry source said: “Marriage has certainly not come cheap for Phil. He has now made two of the biggest divorce payments in showbiz history.

“At least no one can accuse him of leaving his ex-wives short. When you compare what he’s paid out relative to his own fortune the figures are enormous.”

Orianne even got a much bigger percentage of Phil’s fortune than Heather Mills got from Macca. The divorce payout came to light in the latest accounts for Phil’s personal management company, Philip Collins Ltd.

He met Orianne on tour when she was just 22 and he was still married to Jill. They set up home in Geneva and were together for five years before their lavish three-day wedding in Lausanne with 300 guests including Elton John and Eric Clapton.

[From The Mirror]

I don’t really feel sorry for Phil Collins, but I do think it’s rather disgusting that his wife feels that she’s entitled to half of his earnings just because they were married for six years and she pumped out a couple of his kids. Phil made that money on his own without any help or support from this woman- why does she get to keep any of it, outside of child support? To make matters worse, it’s not like Phil can just go out on tour and recoup this loss- the singer has said that he has permanent hearing loss in one ear due to an ear infection, and will probably never tour again.

I really think it’s time for Britain to examine its divorce laws. I also think Phil should take a permanent vacation from marriage at this point. But please, whatever you do, Phil, don’t write anymore sappy songs about being dumped. Why should we all suffer because of your mistakes?

Phil Collins and his third wife Orianne are shown in the header on 1/18/03. They are shown below out with their son on 6/29/04. Credit: WENN

Donnie Wahlberg, the brother not famous for his physique but for being part of the original 90s boy band New Kids on the Block, is getting divorced from his wife of nine years Kim Fey.

Donnie Wahlberg and his wife, Kim Fey, both filed for divorce on Aug. 13, court documents in Los Angeles and Ventura County, Calif. show.

Citing irreconcilable differences, Fey is seeking sole physical and legal custody of their two sons – Xavier, 15 and Elijah, 7 – with visitation rights for Wahlberg.

Fey, 39, is also seeking spousal support and attorney’s fees from the New Kids on the Block singer, also 39. It wasn’t immediately clear what terms Wahlberg is seeking.

People

People reports that the couple separated in January.

I find it heartening that the couple both filed for divorce on the same day, like they are going to split amicably for their children.

What I find coincidental is that their separation comes rapidly on the heels of the New Kids on the Block reunion. Is this reunion less of a celebration of the music, or even a cash-in on 90s nostalgia, but more of a mid-life crisis? The band members are all in their thirties and forties now, which is just about the right time for that kind of thing. I imagine Kim is seeing her husband desperately attempting to jam himself into his old stage costumes, suck in his gut while lip synching, and make his old lines for groupies sound fresh. While she stay at home with the kids.

Perhaps it’s a good time to go for the reunion tour – Donnie needs to earn some cash for spousal support.

Now that the three-ring circus better known as the Christie Brinkley divorce is over, you’d think that the former supermodel would be able to move on and find a way to effectively co-parent with her ex, Peter Cook. Creep though he is, the guy is still father to one of her children, and that’s not changing. However, sources say that when Christie ran into her ex at a benefit concert in the Hamptons, she hightailed it out of there.

It was an ex-couple collision for Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook when the two had a close call at a Hamptons dance party this weekend!

Christie was hoping for a good time at the Jonas Brothers bash benefiting Ross School in East Hampton, but she ended up in uncomfortable proximity to her cheating ex — who also attended the intimate show. As 650 fans screamed — and Christie rocked out with son Jack — Peter walked around with daughter Sailor.

When Christie got wind of chatter about her porny ex being in the same place — she quickly headed for the door!

[From ExtraTV.com]

Here is my problem with this: if Christie was alone, or with a date, I could see why she’d want to get the heck out of there. But both of them were with one of their kids. The two siblings can’t enjoy a concert together because their parents can’t get along- and that’s sad. I know the divorce is still very new, and there are a lot of bad feelings in this situation, but there are children to think about. Christie should take comfort in the fact that she publicly humiliated this clown and leave it at that.

Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook are shown below with their kids in 2004. Credit: Anthony G. Moore / PR Photos. Christie is shown in the header at “The Hamptons Classic Horse Show in Bridge Hampton” on 9/3/07. Credit: MLM/Fame Pictures

Sienna Miller is begging Balthazar Getty to help resurrect her Hollywood career – which I thought he was doing, since she’s been pictured all over the place baring her most prominent and famous talents for him and paparazzi.

News of the World, not the most reliable source I know, says that Sienna desperately wants Balthazar’s wife Rosetta to release a statement saying their marriage was over when Sienna got naked in public with a married man.

Our source said: “Sienna is being portrayed as a femme fatale and fears for her career because Hollywood hates a home wrecker. She hopes Balthazar can get Rosetta to put out a statement saying their marriage was already over. They have already got friends to speak out, saying he was sleeping on their sofas.”

But our source added: “It’s nonsense that the marriage was already over.

“When Balthazar went away in May, Rosetta thought it was to see his sick mum in Germany. But she now knows that it was to cavort with Sienna in Prague.”

News of the World

If someone had relayed that kind of request from the woman who broke up my marriage, even if it was floundering already, I’m not sure if I would be furious or fall about laughing.

Sienna also seems to have missed the point a little. People aren’t so much disgusted at the fact she is involved with a married man, as much as they are disgusted at the pair of them flaunting the relationship, half naked, on a beach for his wife and children to see.

Given that Sienna’s big breakout role in Factory Girl didn’t project her into the celebrity stratosphere she was aiming for, I’m not sure that a simple denial from her boyfriend’s wife is going to work for her. Nor will her upcoming role in G.I. Joe, I suspect. My advice? Stop getting your boobs burnt on vacation, and keep them covered up. They’re obviously keeping you in employment and wealthy boyfriends, so don’t let some nasty sun damage ruin their burgeoning career.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Sienna Miller and Balthazar Getty are shown out to lunch at Taverna Tony in Malibu on Sunday. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer joined them. They could have sat inside and avoided the paps, but then they wouldn’t have been able to smoke. Credit: ZNK/Fame Pictures

Morgan Freeman and his wife, Myrna Colley-Lee, are shown at the after party for “The Country Girl” at Tavern On the Green in NY on 4/17/08. Credit: WENN

Morgan Freeman’s life sure has been in a lot of turmoil lately. After his very serious car crash on Sunday night, Freeman and his female passenger, Demaris Meyer, were airlifted to a hospital. He had a broken arm, broken elbow, and some type of shoulder injury, resulting in surgery to reconnect nerves and fix the damage in his left arm and hand.

There was a lot of gossip wondering why Freeman was out so late at night with a woman that wasn’t his wife. While it was originally reported that Meyer was a longtime friend of Freeman’s wife (which still may be true) it could be that she’s his girlfriend. It was confirmed today that Freeman and wife Myrna Colley-Lee are getting divorced, and have been legally separated since December.

The drama continues for Dark Knight star Morgan Freeman. Days after he was involved in a serious car accident, Freeman’s business partner says the actor and his wife of 24 years, costumer Myrna Colley-Lee, have called it quits.

Mississippi-based attorney Bill Luckett tells Access Hollywood the couple “are involved in a divorce action.” Luckett adds that “for legal and practical purposes, [Freeman and Colley-Lee] have been separated since December of 2007.”

The couple met in 1976 when both were working off-Broadway. Freeman has four children: Two from a previous marriage, two from previous relationships.

The news comes as Freeman is recovering in a Memphis hospital following his car accident Sunday. His rep said the actor is “doing well” after doctor reconnected nerves and repaired damage to his left arm and hand on Monday. He is expected to be released in a few days.

[From Us Weekly]

The header photo is of the couple together this past April, well after the December date of their split. The phrasing was quite odd, “for legal and practical purposes, [Freeman and Colley-Lee] have been separated since December of 2007.” Huh? Were they split or not? If so, why phrase it that way? And why were they together at a party? Perhaps they were keeping up appearances, or broke up and reconciled a time or two. Either way, it seems pretty obvious that Demaris Meyer is probably more than just a “family friend.”

Robin Williams is in the process of a divorce from his wife of 19 years, Marsha. The annoying funnyman is said to have closely followed Christie Brinkley’s divorce from her fourth husband, Peter Cook. During Brinkley’s public divorce proceedings the public learned the intimate details of Cook’s Internet porn addiction and inappropriate relationship with a girl just out of high school he hired to work at his architecture firm. Williams wants to keep quiet whatever dirt his wife might have on him, and is said to have told his lawyer to meet all her demands:

Horrified after witnessing Christie Brinkley’s divorce from… Peter Cook escalate into a three-ring media circus, Robin Williams – desperate to preserve his own privacy as his 19-year marriage to estranged wife Marsha winds up in court – vows he absolutely won’t fight her, and ordered his attorney and business reps: “Give her anything she wants!” Said an insider: “Robin wants his private life kept out of the headlines and is willing to give Marsha anything she wants just to get it all over with and start his life again. He knows there are many things Marsha could make publicm and he’s willing to give up his fortune to avoid a trashy divorce battle.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column, August 11, 2008]

Williams, 57, had a stint in rehab in August, 2006. He was rumored to have been cheating on his wife earlier this year with a 27 year-old artist from Greenwich, CT, but it seems as if they may have already been estranged at that time. Robin and Marsha are said to have been living apart for around two years.

I almost forgot he was going through a divorce because he hasn’t made the gossip press much in the last few months. Now that I’m reminded of it, I’m kind of bummed that his divorce details won’t be made public. It would be excellent gossip and I would like to see this fast-talking fool stammering on the stand. Williams is a nice guy, though, and if he’s willing to make sure his wife is happy he doesn’t deserve to have his dirty laundry aired in public. You would doubt he was into anything on the level of Peter Cook’s indiscretions, but it’s always possible. It sounds like he made a wise decision in making sure he settles his divorce quickly and behind the scenes.

Robin Williams is shown at Outfest on 7/20/08. Credit: WENN/Fayes Vision

NY Yankee All-Star and alleged Madonna-lover Alex Rodriguez (whom we refer to up here in the Boston area as “A-Fraud”) is not going to give his soon-to-be ex-wife, Cynthia, any more of his millions than she’s entitled to in the prenuptial agreement she signed. A-Rod’s lawyers are also looking to have any accusations of his infidelities removed from the record- though they’re careful to avoid actually denying the allegations.

Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez is playing hardball against his wife in their divorce case, saying he wants their prenuptial agreement enforced and charges that he cheated on her removed from the record.

In court papers obtained exclusively by the Daily News, A-Rod’s side responds point by point to Cynthia’s July 7 divorce filing.

The All-Star admits the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” but says that because Florida is a no-fault divorce state, he doesn’t have to say why and he’s not going to.

Cynthia’s allegations that he “emotionally abandoned his wife and children” and that the pair broke up because of his “extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct” are “immaterial and impertinent and should be stricken,” the papers say.

The documents are expected to be filed today in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in Florida. In her petition to the court, Cynthia asked for the couple’s $12 million waterfront estate and “equitable distribution” of all assets acquired during the marriage.

While naming no figure, she petitioned for alimony and child support, including such benefits as life and health insurance and private schools – suggesting she be able to maintain the “high standard of living” A-Rod has provided his family so far.

Rodriguez, whose 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees makes him baseball’s highest-paid player, says several times in the response he wants the prenup enforced.

“Husband denies any duty to support wife beyond those obligations specifically set out in the parties’ prenuptial agreement,” the papers say. What those terms are wasn’t immediately known, but apparently they don’t suit Cynthia.

If he has to go to court to fight her challenge to the prenup and wins, he says he’s entitled to recover from his wife any “reasonable attorney’s fees and costs” he incurs. A-Rod strikes a conciliatory note when it comes to the children, saying he “has been paying, and will continue to pay … reasonable and bona fide expenses” for daughters Natasha, 3, and Ella, 3 months.

[From NY Daily News]

Cynthia may have shot herself in the foot by marring A-Rod in the state of Florida. According to state law, prenups are generally enforceable unless the disputing party can prove that the agreement was signed under duress, there was fraud involved, the terms were “unreasonable,” (meaning that one person keeps all the assets while the other gets nothing), or that one of the parties wasn’t fully aware of the other’s assets at the time. Of course, Cynthia could take the high road in this whole mess, and not go after A-Rod’s millions- that is an option. But her actions since the split, including using his credit cards to fund a first-class trip to Paris before filing for divorce, tells me she is pissed, and wants to hit him where it hurts. So it looks like no one is going to be the bigger person here.

Cynthia and Alex Rodriguez are shown on 12/30/07. Credit: ROC/Fame Pictures

Heather Mills’ publicist has quit after tolerating the cow-faced divorcee for four years, claiming that she has been working unpaid hours and was owed $100,000. Now she seems to be trying to earn it back by blabbing all over town about how terrible it is to work for Heather.

While most of the revelations aren’t shocking –Heather is a bitch, who would have guessed? – this one about her divorce caught me by surprise. The tapes of Paul McCartney abusing Heather Mills do not exist.

She told US news show Access Hollywood: “I really don’t believe she did (have the video).

“I was close enough and I heard a couple of conversations. Now that I know what I know, I don’t really think that Paul really went after her for anything.

“She had basically nothing – she had tapes of her being in the studio with him, her being on the road with him, private moments.

“She told me a bunch of stuff… (but) I don’t see him being a violent person.”

Heather had threatened to show the videos during the couple’s high-profile divorce battle.

OK! Magazine

In case you’ve forgotten, Heather claimed that she had tapes of Paul calling her a one-legged bitch, and that he had been physically violent towards her. The Daily Mail has an interview with a source close to Heather, saying that she was being ‘cagey’ about the tapes, and never had any intention of using them, but she was tired of being accused of making up the attacks.

The allegations of violence did damage Paul McCartney’s reputation initially, although I think Heather’s abhorrent personality and public insanity made her the villain to most people, even at that point. I guess this explains why he never seemed eager to settle the case after her allegations – the tapes weren’t real. While Elyzabeth only says she doesn’t ‘believe’ in the tapes and ‘doesn’t see’ Paul as being a violent person, I doubt any of the alleged incidents happened. Heather Mills looks like the kind of woman who could take down a man 25 years her senior with just her sneer.

How much money would you have to be given in exchange for being universally hated? In the divorce Heather got just $33 million.

Heather Mills is shown on 6/3/08 at a book party in NY. Credit: MLM/Fame Pictures

Linda Hogan must either be totally mental or completely misunderstood. After filing for divorce from Hulk Hogan and letting him find out through the media, she took up with a 19-year-old bleached blond friend of her 17-year-old son. She then filed for a restraining order against Hulk, and called the police to have him arrested when he dropped their daughter Brooke off at her house… because he was technically closer than the restraining order allowed him to be. And then she got in her car and followed him. And that’s just a brief snippet from the crazy Linda Hogan file.

According to daughter Brooke, Linda manipulated her into signing an affidavit stating that Hulk had abused her mother. Brooke is publicly apologizing and recanting her confirmation of Linda’s allegations.

“I did it under significant pressure from my mother,” Hogan, 20, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. “It was only after I learned all the facts that I realized I made a big mistake in signing it.” Hogan released the statement after a tabloid reported that she had signed a legal affidavit accusing her father, whose real name is Terry Bollea, of verbally and physically abusing wife Linda during their marriage.

Linda, 48, filed for divorce last November, and her attorney told PEOPLE it was going to be “war.” Her attorney was not available for comment. A rep for Hulk Hogan declined to comment. In her statement to PEOPLE, Brooke admits to signing the affidavit. But, according to her rep, she later regretted the decision and asked that it not be filed in court. (At this point, according to Hulk’s attorney, no such document has been filed.)

Brooke’s rep says: “Brooke Bollea is distressed at the latest efforts by mother Linda to fracture the family. This time they let leak out an old document that Brooke signed filled with exaggerations and fabrications about father Terry’s behavior during the marriage. The months-old document was signed by Brooke at a time when she was upset with her father.”

[From People]

Brooke and Linda haven’t been on speaking terms for about a month, and according to People she now lives with her father. Brooke says that her mother is using her kids as pawns in their divorce. Which might be true, but they’re both nearly adults – jailbird son Nick will turn 18 tomorrow. It’s hard having your parents divorce at any age, but when they’re old enough that parents can’t fight over custody, that has a few advantages for the kids. They can live with whoever they want or move out on their own and do their best to avoid the drama. Which sounds like the best plan in this case.

Soft-hitting talk show host Larry King, 74, is on his seventh wife and he seems to be just about as committed to her as he was to his other six wives. Shawn Southwick, 48, has been married to King for 11 years and they have two sons together, Chance Armstrong, 9, and Cannon Edward, 8. Shawn entered rehab late last month for an addiction to painkillers used to cope with what she claims is a chronic migraine problem. Larry and Shawn have a troubled relationship, and the two were seen having an argument that came to blows outside a restaurant last year. Larry denied at the time that the fight was serious, but The Enquirer has a source which claims that they fight constantly and that King is going to give Shawn the boot once she gets back from rehab.

Larry King plans to divorce his wife Shawn after she recovers from a rehab stint for pill dependency, a source close to the talk-show host told the Enquirer. The 74-year-old CNN star has told pals he’s decided to end his nearly 11-year marriage…

In our Feb 26, 2007, issue we reported that the fight started when Larry wanted to sit with pals at a table in the middle of the deli, but Shawn wanted to sit in a side booth – away from his friends.

Larry exploded in anger, and after forcibly trying to bring her to the seat he wanted, Shawn stormed out. Once outside, Larry grabbed Shawn by the arm, and she slapped him across the face.

By then, “Larry was raging with anger and called Shawn a ‘dirty whore’ and pushed her,” a source revealed.

When contacted at the time but the Enquirer, Larry said: “We got into a little tiff that lasted about two seconds. It’s over now. We’re happily married and not getting a divorce.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, August 4, 2008]

Shawn should be out of rehab around the end of this month, but The Enquirer reports that she’s likely to stay in an after-care facility for a while. Their insider says “Larry plans on waiting for Shawn to recover before he drops divorce papers on her, but he thinks that will be very soon.”

This sounds like it’s true, and the Enquirer is not likely to embellish a story about a minor celebrity like King getting a divorce because frankly it’s not that juicy of a rumor. They’re also one of the most reliable gossip rags. King’s rep denies that he’s getting a divorce this time around, though.

Is it cold to dump your spouse right after they recover from an addiction, or is it a long time coming and more considerate of their mental state at the time? It probably depends on the relationship.

Larry King and Shawn are shown on 02/10/07. Credit: Fame Pictures