This story is confusing to me, because I thought that Demi and Ashton’s divorce was finally moving forward after Ashton served Demi with divorce papers over the holidays. The story went that he was waiting for Demi to pull the plug, since he wanted to give her that chance at dignity, which she’s of course incapable of having any semblance of. After Demi kept stalling and leaking stories about the boy toys she was dating instead of attempting for closure on her long-over marriage, Ashton finally filed for divorce. Rumor had it that Ashton’s girlfriend, Mila Kunis, convinced him to make it final.
Now we have the news that Demi has filed her own divorce papers. I don’t get it, couldn’t she just continue to negotiate with Ashton through their lawyers instead of incurring tens of thousands of additional legal fees by filing again? Maybe she figures she’ll more than recoup that with Ashton’s money. According to the NY Post, Demi has been trying to work with Ashton but he’s being a tightwad and doesn’t want to pay up, hence her filing again:
Demi Moore is finally filing divorce papers, 16 months after splitting up with Ashton Kutcher, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
An insider tells us she tired of trying to reach a confidential settlement with Kutcher, and that the couple’s divorce could go to a trial.
“Ashton made a lot of money after marrying Demi — a lot more than she made — but despite him becoming just as famous through her, he believes he doesn’t owe her that much,” the source said,” adding of Demi: “She has had enough.”
Moore’s lawyers could file paperwork in Los Angeles as early as today, we hear. Kutcher filed divorce papers in December, a year after the couple split, but this would be the first time Moore responds. She’d been hoping to quietly negotiate a settlement and then file the papers once an agreement was reached.
But negotiations got bogged down, and, “Ashton has been very difficult during the talks,” the insider said. “You could even say he has been hostile.” Kutcher is the highest-paid actor on TV, pulling in $24 million last year for “Two and a Half Men,” and he’s also become a savvy investor in various tech start-ups.
“After over a year of attempting to reach a settlement, Demi is definitely ready to move on,” the source said of her decision to file. “It’s hoped lawyers for both sides can reach a settlement this spring, otherwise the divorce will go into litigation and trial.”
Kutcher’s being repped by LA celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser, while Moore’s retained powerhouse New York attorney William Beslow, who recently helped Linda Evangelista land a generous settlement in a child support battle with mogul François-Henri Pinault.
Since Moore, 50, announced she was ending her six-year marriage to Kutcher, now 35, in 2011, speculation has run rampant as to why they haven’t reached a settlement.
Demi was in New York on Monday night with friends. The source added, “She is healthy and happy, and just wants to move on with her life.”
Kaiser thinks that Demi is trying to go public with the news that Ashton isn’t playing fair, by Demi’s estimation, in order to get a bigger settlement. That would make sense. Also, of course Page Six has this news. They’ve run stories in the past about how sexy Demi is and which much-younger guy is her flavor of the month. I’m not buying that Demi has been trying to reach a settlement with Ashton for “over a year.” Ashton just filed at the end of 2012. BUT if Ashton is trying to make sure Demi doesn’t get a fair portion of his earnings during their marriage, I understand on some level why she’s pushing for this. Isn’t she filthy rich in her own right though? I’m having trouble mustering up any sympathy for her, probably because she’s been trying to get the public’s sympathy for so long now.
Demi Moore is shown out in LA on 2-11-13. Credit: FameFlynet. Ashton and Mila are shown at a Lakers Game on 2-28-13. Credit: WENN.com
She cleaned house in her divorce with Bruce, looks like she’s trying to do the same here. I doubt she doesn’t realize there aren’t that many roles for her and mostly they are in independent/lower budget movies. Not because of her age, but because of the low quality of her acting.
(oops, sorry, replied to wrong post..don’t agree or disagree with this one. Haven’t seen Demi in anything new for a long while)
Honestly, one thing I will never, ever regret is keeping my divorce on the down-low. My children were young, and it wasn’t for cheating, but for chronic substance abuse, and the resulting aftermath. I give the children age appropriate info, mostly when asked or it comes up naturally. Amazingly, I met and married my soul-mate only 5 years later, and no kidding, he is an amazing dad, probably more involved than I am, with homework and the whole 9 yards. (amazing, because I had 3 young children from my first marriage. I probably subconsciously thought a man wouldn’t get to know us because of I wasn’t just a ‘girl’, but a package of 4!). Anyway, I will never regret my sparce explanations. Truth comes out, both ways. Best to wait for that, imo.
I think this is her attempt to look like she’s in control. An “I dumped him, he didn’t dump me” move. She seems mentally 14, so that’d be about right.
Erm, this isn’t about you.
Oops! Sry, wrong post!
I have no sympathy for Demi. What she needs to do now is just get the divorce over and done with in order to keep the little bit of dignity she still has remaining in tact.
This is ridiculous. She made a huge amount of money during her own successful career, and she was definitely set for life when she divorced Bruce. She and Bruce had kids together, she and Ashton did not. She needs to move on already.
Completely agree. She is making herself look ridiculous. I can’t muster any sympathy for her at all.
I am all for women imposing a “cheating tax” on their douche husbands. Get $$$ Demi, make him suffer.
And before anyone calls me out, sure, men with cheating wives should impose a cheating tax as well. Sometimes you gotta play dirty to heal a broken heart.
I totally agree, all everyone does is bad mouth Demi, she is a marvellous actress and I think she’s getting the raw end of this deal, she was fine til she married Kutcher and he suckked the life out of her.
+1
I like your way of thinking 😉
Not happy? Move on…Douchery should come with a huge tax.
I disagree. Why cling on to a cheating pos by trying to get his money? the best revenge is moving on. F*ck you, I’m out, for example. hanging on and trying to screw him just hurts you in the long run. because how can you move on when you’re trying to screw him financially? you’re still invested in the relationship, even if it’s out of anger. The best revenge is acting like you don’t give a d*mn, in my opinion. get your stuff, move out and move on.
+1, Joanna.
“The best revenge is acting like you don’t give a d*mn, in my opinion.”
EXACTLY how I feel.
I would pull a Liberty if I was cheated on: hold my head high, look fierce, and leave the bitterness for the Demis of the world.
I 100% agree, Joanna. Revenge and spitefulness are petty, immature things that reveal more about HER character than his.
For argument’s sake, let’s say he cheated on her. So what? Mistake made, lesson learned, move on. Pick a different kind of guy next time. Fighting for payback and payout is just sad.
Then Ashton has every right to impose a “crazy tax” on his drug addicted anorexic wife. She clearly has mental issues and needs to get her sh*t together. Ashton doesn’t owe her a dime.
I have to disagree. She is the same woman that he married to. It’s not like she developed into something she wasn’t…and if he was unhappy he could have moved on by leaving that marriage, but of course he profited a lot by being associated with her…let’s face it, it’s not like he is that much of a great actor. He used her as much as she might have used him with the difference that she was “crazy” about him (ok, maybe she is also just crazy in general :P) and he was a douche.
+1 LOL- exactly!
Or in Demi’s case huff a bunch of drugs, go to rehab and have your kids stop speaking to you.
my guess is that she was too high on whatever drug she was using and din’t notice he filed…
Hahahaha… I was thinking the same thing when I clicked on this article!!
Ha! That’s what I thought the headline meant, too! I didn’t realize someone else can file after the first person did. That’s so odd.
Takes a while for humiliation exposure and rejection by family, with foolish public actions recorded and revealed and thus some scary and unbalanced secrets exposed.. everyone’s apparently not admiring you for your cool.. but flaming you for being selfish and immature.. wanting a considerate emotionally mature man then the wake up call.. Hum, am I that difficult to love and live with,.. somehow realize you aren’t ever fit with health and .. all that special with a cherry on top..
they’re both loaded. can’t they just each keep their own fortunes and walk away?
I agree totally!
Demi needs less on her plate, not more. But I guess the notoriety & publicity of this divorce is what she wants to prolong, with the thought that it would gain her some sympathy from the public. Without this, what else does she have besides negative stories of her partying & embarrassing relationships with toy boys? Sure he cheated, but I bet the settlement he’s offered was in the millions, enough to pay that “cheating tax” that was mentioned in a previous post. If she’s greedy enough to try to get more instead of trying to finish off this divorce as soon as possible, then she’s just hurting herself, not him.
+1
Ashton’s such a pig! He’s a lying cheater too. Hope Demi gets everything California Law deserves her to have. Shame on Wasser for repping Kutcher. Drugs or no drugs Ashton was never there for her as a husband should be there for help. Mila will get cheated on too!
I think Ashton put up with a lot married to Demi. We don’t know his side of the story, because so far he hasn’t talked about it. Demi deserves a fair settlement for being married a short time, but nothing like she wants and received from Bruce Willis after a much longer marriage and three children. She’s wants revenge money in a huge settlement, and she’s probably not going to get it.
Ashton’s career soared because of Demi! She’s the one whose had to put up with a childish boy. Remember the time he set up hundreds of pee cups in an employees office for fun? Or offered his employees $$ to pee in their pants while being videotaped on twitter? He’s become an Egomaniac!
Really? Ashton was constantly there for her and dealt with her crazyness and even went with her to kabbalah marriage counseling classes. Demi has always had mental issues.
Heads up, he still goes to Kabbalah classes now regardless of Demi. He’s so lost
What a clinger! Any other woman would have filed and moved on months ago. It’s over, get over it.
Her career seems to be tanked, her credabilty is tanked and she’s now Demi on the “D” list. I’m betting her ca$h is largely depleted.
She’s jealous and still trying to be relevant.
Move on Demi and see if you can recover true riches – like self respect and the respect of your children.
Yeah, she’s on the “D List”, she’s a DIRECTOR now. She’s a good one too. Can’t say that for talentless Ashton.
Everyone knew their relationship would never last and he would end up leaving her for someone his age. She’s a fool for getting involved in such a dead end relationship.
I dont blame him for getting away from her. If you have ever been in love with an addict/alcoholic, it can become so toxic if they are boozing and drugging again. I have and sometimes love isnt enough to stay on a sinking ship.
I think she should stop punishing Ashton for wanting her out of his life and let it go.
I like both Ashton and Demi so I can’t say anything negative about any of them. it seems that Demi is the one acting immature though. I am still wondering what she did to Madonna to have been shunned by her.
Anytime Madonna shares a sex partner with a girlfriend she disses the girl, For Life!
Well Ashton is notorious for being cheap… so that is not news. Makes one wonder exactly who financially was paying the bills during the marriage.
But I can also see Ashton fighting not to have to give up 50%.
Because I suspect Demi is going after just that. Plus dividends.
Like she wants a continued income through profits of what ever Ashton makes from his TV shows.
And this could be why he is fighting so hard. He wants to make a lump sum low ball offer. And Demi wants half of his income. Forever. 🙂
Well, I hope she doesn’t get it. I hate when people try to use short marriages as a means to get “set” for life.
Claire California law is both parties monies together minus the lower person’s income, that is the figure that gets negotiated. Nobody here is getting set for life. Both of them already are.
What are her daughters up to these days?
I legit don’t understand why she would legally be entitled to any of his private earnings or investments. Unless they had some kind of non-cheating clause in their prenup, cheating isn’t like against the law. I thought normally they split/fight over shared assets?
I’m thinking the papers she’s filing are responsive, not a whole new action of divorce. That would make more sense. However, Demi doesn’t always do things that make sense.
Go Demi!!!! Pull it together girl!!!!!
Demi let this guy mess her up. She is a great actress and will come back strong. No doubt. It sucks to be cheated on and takes a while for some people to bounce back. Hopefully she will.
Funny how “love” is always reduced to $$$ in the end.
Heads up Scuddles “Money” is “Life Energy”. Ashton sucked hers away. He owes her. What a DOUCHE
Talk about “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”!
I think she pulled this move to drag the divorce out. It keeps Ashton tied to her, albeit in a negative way.
Agree. She’s being bitter and petty. She can’t move on, so she won’t let him move on either. Draggin’ it out…
How did he become famous through her as far as careerwise financially? She couldn’t get a decent movie role in the last ten years if she begged, borrowed, and stole. Her high profile was purely from twitter addiction/tweeting bikini shots and being married to a young actor who was a hottie.
This. Plus he has kept his mouth shut about all her crazy stuff.
If she is trying to get more of his money than she’s greedy! The woman has a net worth of 150 million! I can see if they had kid together but they didn’t. So what exactly is she entitled to?? He moved out of their house so she has that. It sounds more like she is just doing this out of spite.
IT IS ABOUT TIME! HE WANTS TO START A FAMILY ,YOU GO ASHTON!NO SYMPATHY FOR HER AT ALL!
Oh dear. Demi looks like a scorpion scorned. If Ashton has done anything at all shady concerning taxes, royalties, or his property holdings Demi is about to disclose it.
He’ll either cooperate with her or lose his money to the IRS.
Well played Demi.Now that Demi has filed Ashton has no excuses about marrying Mila.
What will he do now that he’s trapped?
Just once, ONCE, I would like to come across an article about Demi Moore in which we aren’t hearing about how “hot” she is or how “TWENTY-something guys” are all just falling all over themselves to be with her (Lol) or how she “looks better than most TWENTY year olds!” I mean, good God, it’s like a parody at this point!! The woman is 50 years old and clearly, she and her poor team just can’t accept that fact. (It’s all about the constant comparisons.) She is the antithesis to women like the lovely, sexy confident and gorgeous Connie Britton 🙂
If Steven Huvane gets dragged through the mud for his constant “gorgeous” name dropping press for Aniston-as he should-then can we please get on Demi’s people for the same?? Instead of embracing and loving the changes that come with getting older (wisdom, confidence), she is futilely fighting it tooth and nail and it seems to be the main source of her misery unhappiness. Sad.
^^^Yes!
I agree with those upthread who said Demi doesn’t need the $, she mainly wants to make Ashton “pay” emotionally. But since he’s moved on and she hasn’t, she must feel like the only way to make him pay is financially. He humiliated her, with cheating stories all over the tabloids. (And yes, they invited women into their bed for 3somes, but I guess in Demi’s mind, that was different because she knew about it.) This isn’t about $, this is about revenge.
While I’ve always said that I’d be happy about signing a prenup (to me it’s like wearing a seatbelt…it’s a bit of insurance), if a man cheated on me multiple times, I’d want revenge too. Not proud of that, but it’s the truth.
pathetic. just cut and run demi. you have more than enough money.
To cut & run would be pathetic! To fight is honorable!
Fighting to take money someone else earned that you don’t need is not remotely honorable. Male or female, if there are no children involved I fail to see why an ex should get one red cent.
This is funny, because they were never even legally married. Demi needs to find a new hobby.
This is a revenge move more than anything else. She’s tried the suicide route, she’s tried the rehab route, she’s tried the [totally unconvincing] boy toy route, but she deep-sixed all her bids for sympathy by acting like a drunk clueless moron in public many many times.
Believe me, and I can’t believe I’m saying this about such a douche: all the sympathy is on Kutcher’s side. This is Moore’s last ditch effort to punish him for leaving her, but unless she has the sharkiest shark lawyers in the universe, it won’t fly, probably because his platoon of shark lawyers is bigger.
+1. Excellent post. Also, there’s no telling what has gone on with Demi we don’t even know about. When her three girls put some distance between themselves and their Mother by not seeing or talking with her I knew her problems and drama had become too much for almost everyone. Also, her girls have remained friends with Ashton which means they don’t hold him solely responsbile for the marriage failing or for Demi’s problems. Demi has more money than Ashton and more than she can spend if she never worked again or got a penny from Ashton. She should have already ended this marriage a long time ago.
Not sure that Demi has more $ than Ashton. 15, 20 years ago maybe. But she hasn’t really done anything of note since Charlie’s Angels 2. Meanwhile Ashton signed that huge contract with 2.5 Men, and he’s getting those 70s Show residuals. Plus as the article says, he’s invested well.
Not saying Demi is poor or anything! I’m just pullin’ numbers outta my butt now, but for instance, if Ashton is worth $50 mil, Demi is probably worth $30 mil. Again, she ain’t starving. She wants revenge, and the only way she feels she can get closure is to go after his $.
I have very little sympathy for her. On the one hand, she has become yet another victim of the Hollywood “older women are not desirable” mentality, but on the other, she is not doing anything to help her cause with all her odd juvenile behavior and obvious refusal to age gracefully.
If Demi was so “fine” before she married Kutcher and ruined her life, why did she marry him? She was the older of the two.
She wants to hurt him because she’s hurt. Plus, she obviously has image issues and seeing your young husband date a young starlet has wounded her pride.
Her daughters aren’t talking to her. That says a lot as to the fact that she has some issues.
I just don’t get how all these woman find him attractive!
How else is she gonna pay for that new Mila Kunis looking lip reconstruction?
Ashton may or may not have “cheated” in the traditional sense…I feel like Demi is so desperate she probably encouraged things like that to “keep” him, and if not, it’s definitely wrong that he cheated but he’s been very kind and considerate of her overall. He [probably without her OK] cheated, yes, but that looks to have been the one mistake he made. He seemed to make every effort otherwise to be good to her children, get along with her ex, and support her and love her. I always scratched my head about why, because I’ve always been put off by her.
And to those who say he got famous off of her, I beg to differ. She benefited equally PR-wise, as we all can see she loves to perpetuate the image of herself as some youthful beauty desired by 20 year old men…she got press coverage, remained relevant via his increasing profile, she got attention. Ashton kind of took a hit in a way, taking himself “off the market” as the “desirable, quirky single hunk” at the prime point in his career. He married her because he loved her, and I think she unraveled and so did he, eventually it cost them their marriage. Demi’s current tactic seems as unhinged as the rest of her. She deserved a big settlement from Bruce as her career took a backseat to his as she had the children and stayed home a lot.
Expecting Ashton to part with a hefty sum of his fortune when she has plenty herself is unfair and spiteful considering how he’s treated her overall.
She seems like a histrionic attention seeking egomaniac who cannot stand to see him not only with a woman his age but also a woman who he knew throughout their marriage…her insecurities are probably whispering “He always wanted Mila, you know” in her ear and instead of sobering up and getting a grip, she’s going after him after all her pity-ploys failed.
Although, they didn’t entirely fail, as it is obvious he pities her and feels guilty about her struggles, hence his gentle treatment of her post-split.
And for those who say if he really cared about her, he wouldn’t have gotten with Mila until after the divorce was finalized, I find that unreasonable.
My fiance only recently finalized his divorce, even though he filed for divorce 2 years ago [and yes, well before we got together, he didn’t date another woman or touch another woman for a year after filing but he’s weird like that] because his ex dragged it out. People have a right to move on and have a love life even if the person they split from isn’t prepared for it. What’s important is that they still treat their ex gently during the fragile time, which Ashton has overall.
I might see things differently if Demi hadn’t made such an obnoxious fool of herself all this time, but she has instead managed to make Ashton seem like the mature party.
He did cheat openly on their anniversary. There are photos.
He probably did want Mila while they were married.
Cheating is never okay.
A real man doesn’t cheat.
I know there were photos, I’m not questioning whether he slept with that skank, I’m questioning whether he did so without Demi’s permission. Like I said, she seems the type who would somehow try to seem “young and funky” and suggest an open relationship to keep his interest, only to balk and not handle it when he takes her up on his offer.
That said, I don’t think he should have slept with that girl either way, or any other girl. He is keen enough to know how that would affect Demi regardless of if she said it was ok or not.
Still, I have cheated before, and I reformed myself because I saw what an awful thing I had done. I broke up with the guy I cheated on anyway, because we weren’t right for each other, so I didn’t reform just to keep him or make up for it. I genuinely regretted what I did and after the break up I treated him kindly and maintain a friendship with him to this day. Cheating doesn’t make someone a complete piece of garbage UNLESS they never honestly change. I cheated because I had poor coping skills and weak character and was not prepared to handle a relationship with a man suffering from extreme anger issues and PTSD. I was trying to find a way out. It was wrong. I’m not worthless, though. If Ashton has honestly tried to make amends and do his best to repair the damage he did, he doesn’t deserve to be forever raked through the coals by a woman with plenty of her own issues. He SEEMS to be considerate and gentle with Demi, like waiting for her to file divorce so as to be a gentleman. I get the feeling he deeply regrets what he did, but also could not find a way to make it work with this unhinged woman.
If he cheats on Mila, that will tell me he hasn’t changed and is just a douche.
ETA: The fact that he did it on their anniversary is even more suggestive of there being more to the story than a simple “Ashton cheated, poor Demi”…it’s almost as though it was her anniversary gift or something, it’s weird. Either that or they were already having MAJOR problems and not spending their anniversary together…which would not make it ok, but would make the issue more complex IMO.
vvvoid, excellent post. Demi’s problems are Demi. She simply has to find a way to age gracefully, or she is never going to find peace and happiness.
She’s so deep in denial it makes my head spin. The fact that her children are upset with her rather than rallying around her after the split further suggests that she really is a piece of work with a lot of issues.
I get the feeling that people in Demi’s life try to be patient with her but lose it after a while.
I agree with the poster above that what she filed are responsive papers rather than a new filing.
I haven’t followed this that closely but wouldn’t it make sense that their finances are intertwined and that they can’t agree upon how to untangle them as opposed to some sort of cash grab.
when ashton’s films didn’t do well, he stayed on the A list because of his connection to her. his marriage to her did benefit his career, she should get money from him.
imagine all those years with crappy film after crappy film coming out-if he didn’t have her his ‘star’ would’ve fallen. just like how jennifer anniston stays on the A list even though in the past 10 years she’s done nothing to earn it.
He hasn’t even mainly profited from his film career in the past 10 years, rather his investments and the stuff he does behind the scenes. I’m sure he’s offering her SOME money, which is fair, but she’s asking too much to draw this out.
They were only married six years, and had no children together. So there is no reason to have a big blow-up divorce…they should just sign the papers and get it done with.
@Lux i dont either! my wife said he “looks like a bulldog” lol
She wants spousal support from Ashton.
Alimony is for losers.
It is called “cross filing” and it is done because it is the legal means for making a demand for property settlement.
I can’t imagine there was not a pre-nuptial agreement here. But if there was not, California is a community property state, meaning that division of marital assets is on a 50-50 basis. Where discusssion and negotiation come into play is often in the area of what is to be considered a “marital asset” and what the value of that asset is.
The things you own prior to the marriage remain your own, unless you voluntarily titled something over to the spouse during the marriage.
But the increase in value during the time of the marriage of a singly owned asset would become a “marital asset.” So say Demi owned a ski chalet at Aspen that was worth 3 million when they married and is now worth 5 million. That 2 million increase in value becomes an asset to be divided.
A person already having 30 million dollars might not want to just walk away from the prospect of increasing their net worth by more millions. I know I wouldn’t.
We have no idea of what is owned and who had what coming into their marriage. If there was a marriage. Which I think there was because California is not a common law marriage state. And actually an attorney usually will not even file a divorce petition unless he first markes sure there was a legal marriage.
I have no strong feelings about either of these two. I did think the time would come when he wanted a younger wife capable of producing children.
I also don’t think 16 months is all that long to wait to file for divorce. Depending on what all they owned in the way of properties and perhaps other high-ticket items like, say, artwork for instance, it can take quite some time to have everything appraised.