It was bound to be a tense time when Salma Hayek's billionaire husband François-Henri Pinault was revealed as the father of supermodel Linda Evangelista's four-year-old son.Four weeks on, the cover girl is battling the father in a New York court for $46,000 (£28,000)-a-month child support - a figure so astronomical it reportedly 'made the judge's jaw drop'.
Ms Evangelista, 46, argued she needs the money to pay for around-the-clock nannies and armed chauffeurs to take care of little Augustin as a working single mother.
But Support Magistrate Matthew Troy appeared at first astonished by the sum.
'That would probably be the largest support order in the history of the Family Court,' he said in Manhattan Family Court on Monday.
Mr Pinault, 49, the CEO of luxury brands firm PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, and others, has a three-year-old daughter, Valentina, with his actress wife Hayek, born 11 months after Augustin.
And the executive, whose family is worth an estimated $11.5billion (£7billion), is fighting the expenditures, reports the New York Post.
The model's lawyer, William Beslow, argued while the executive lavishes Valentina with luxuries - spending $50,000 (£30,000) a month for a $12million (£7.3million) Los Angeles estate held in trust in the her name - he has yet to make investments on behalf of the little boy.
Mr Beslow said. 'He's just been sitting back, paying zero.'
Mr Pinault's lawyer, David Aaronson, questioned at a deposition last Tuesday said Ms Evangelista's need for a team of drivers who are former police detectives at a cost of $175,000 (£107,000) a year, and $80,000 (£49,000) a year for an around-the-clock nanny.
He said: 'She testified that she wants to have a 24-hour nanny because she does not want to be alone with the child...
'Miss Evangelista, you should understand, has a worth of more than $8million (£4.9million), and she earned, last year, $1.8 million (£1.1million).'
'How many hours a week do you work?' the judge asked the model, who famously said in a 1990 interview 'We (supermodels) don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day.'
She answered the judge: 'On days when I do not work, I am working on my image. I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image, just like an athlete.'
The lawyers and Ms Evangelista declined comment after the proceeding.
Augustin's parentage was only revealed last month when court documents were filed regarding the model's legal battle with her ex.
When the supermodel's representatives were approached by the New York Post back in 2007, they denied claims that Pinault, who also has two children from his first marriage, was the father of Augustin.
Evangelista also said in various interviews that Augustin's father was a 'New York architect'.
Evangelista and Pinault conceived Augustin in early 2006, a few months before he met Hayek. Augustin was later born on October 11, 2006.
Pinault's rollercoaster romance with Mexican actress Hayek, 44, is thought to have started in Spring 2006 after they met at a party in Venice.
The pair broke off their engagement in July 2008 - less than a year after Salma gave birth to Valentina in September 2007.
However, Hayek and Pinault reconciled in September 2008, just six months before their marriage.
Pinault and Hayek married in a Valentine's Day ceremony in Paris in 2009 and they had a second, even more lavish wedding ceremony two months later in Venice.
Ms Evangelista, 46, argued she needs the money to pay for around-the-clock nannies and armed chauffeurs to take care of little Augustin as a working single mother.
Single mother: Model Linda Evangelista and her son, Augustin, then three, in New York on December 5, 2009
'That would probably be the largest support order in the history of the Family Court,' he said in Manhattan Family Court on Monday.
Mr Pinault, 49, the CEO of luxury brands firm PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, and others, has a three-year-old daughter, Valentina, with his actress wife Hayek, born 11 months after Augustin.
First meeting: Salma Hayek and Francois Henry Pinault met a party in Venice (pictured) on April 29, 2006 - when Evangelista was pregnant with Augustin
The model's lawyer, William Beslow, argued while the executive lavishes Valentina with luxuries - spending $50,000 (£30,000) a month for a $12million (£7.3million) Los Angeles estate held in trust in the her name - he has yet to make investments on behalf of the little boy.
Mr Beslow said. 'He's just been sitting back, paying zero.'
Mr Pinault's lawyer, David Aaronson, questioned at a deposition last Tuesday said Ms Evangelista's need for a team of drivers who are former police detectives at a cost of $175,000 (£107,000) a year, and $80,000 (£49,000) a year for an around-the-clock nanny.
Revealed: Pinault, pictured in October 2005, was revealed as the father of Evangelista's son Augustin four weeks ago
'Miss Evangelista, you should understand, has a worth of more than $8million (£4.9million), and she earned, last year, $1.8 million (£1.1million).'
'How many hours a week do you work?' the judge asked the model, who famously said in a 1990 interview 'We (supermodels) don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day.'
She answered the judge: 'On days when I do not work, I am working on my image. I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image, just like an athlete.'
United: Pinault, Hayek and their daughter, Valentina at the 54th International Art Biennale in Venice on June 1
'When I work, it can be a 16-hour day,' she added. The lawyers and Ms Evangelista declined comment after the proceeding.
Augustin's parentage was only revealed last month when court documents were filed regarding the model's legal battle with her ex.
When the supermodel's representatives were approached by the New York Post back in 2007, they denied claims that Pinault, who also has two children from his first marriage, was the father of Augustin.
Evangelista also said in various interviews that Augustin's father was a 'New York architect'.
Evangelista and Pinault conceived Augustin in early 2006, a few months before he met Hayek. Augustin was later born on October 11, 2006.
Mother: Hayek in Los Angeles with her three-year-old daughter, Valentina, in June
Pinault's rollercoaster romance with Mexican actress Hayek, 44, is thought to have started in Spring 2006 after they met at a party in Venice.
The pair broke off their engagement in July 2008 - less than a year after Salma gave birth to Valentina in September 2007.
However, Hayek and Pinault reconciled in September 2008, just six months before their marriage.
Pinault and Hayek married in a Valentine's Day ceremony in Paris in 2009 and they had a second, even more lavish wedding ceremony two months later in Venice.
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