On the first day of their child support trial, Francois-Henri Pinault insists that he 'was not involved in the decision of having a baby,' but told Evangelista that he would 'recognize the baby.'
- May 4, 2012
AceShowbiz - A trial over child support battle between Linda Evangelista and her ex-boyfriend, Francois-Henri Pinault, has been kicked off Thursday, May 3 at a Manhattan Family Court. During the proceedings, a lawyer for Evangelista claimed that the now husband of actress Salma Hayek suggested that the supermodel should get an abortion.
Attorney William Beslow said that after "some initial happiness" upon learning Evangelista's pregnancy in 2006, Pinault "told her he wished she would terminate the pregnancy." The lawyer continued to note that when the 46-year-old model told him she would keep the baby, the 49-year-old French business tycoon "made it perfectly clear" that he had no interest in supporting the child.
Pinault himself took the stand on Thursday and said that he "was not involved in the decision of having the baby." The chief executive of PPR added that he and Evangelista spent only about seven days together over the course of their four-month relationship. Asked if he believed the model had intentionally become pregnant, he responded, "Well, she can answer that, but I guess."
Testifying in English, Pinault additionally recalled, "She told me that if I didn't want to be involved in raising the kid or stay together and be parents together, she would understand, and she will take care of the kid." He went on to share, "I told her that I would recognize the baby ... and I will take my responsibility."
During the testimony, Pinault admitted he first received a child support request from Evangelista in 2007. "I received a demand. It was not reasonable, I made a counterproposal," he said, adding that he got no response from her until she sued him in August 2011. He did acknowledge, however, that he didn't contribute anything until then as saying, "I'm not going to pay money I'm not asked for."
Pinault's lawyer, David Aronson, told the court that the business man, who has a daughter with Hayek, is willing to support his 5-year-old son with Evangelista, Augustin, but not the model. When the attorney said that the $46,000-a-month figure Evangelista was seeking in child support payments is "just ridiculous", the model let out her frustration and her lawyer insisted that figure was inaccurate.
