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A Broadway mogul whose wife trashed him in a widely viewed Internet video was
granted a divorce from her Monday. A Manhattan judge gave Philip Smith a
divorce from Tricia Walsh-Smith on the grounds of cruel and inhuman
treatment. Watch the YouTube video.
Walsh-Smith lashes out against Smith in the
tearful and furious YouTube video, which has attracted more than 3 million hits.
She makes embarrassing claims about their intimate life and then calls his
office to repeat those claims to a stunned assistant.
On the video, Walsh-Smith also goes through
their wedding album, describing family members as "bad," "evil" or "nasty," and
expresses concern about eviction from the couple's luxury apartment.
Judge Harold Beeler blasted Walsh-Smith for
her video stunt, which he called "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass
and humiliate her husband" and to pressure him into settling the divorce case on
more favorable terms than were stated in their prenuptial agreement. "She has attempted to turn the life of her
husband into a soap opera by directing, writing, acting in and producing a
melodrama," the judge said.
He said Monday that the prenuptial
agreement, signed three weeks before the couple's 1999 wedding, was valid. This
means that Walsh-Smith must leave their Park Avenue apartment within 30 days and
that Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on
Broadway, must pay her $750,000.
Smith said after the ruling he was "sorry it
had to come to this."
"I'm happy with the decision of the judge,
and I'm happy with the outcome," he said.
Walsh-Smith, a former actress and
playwright, didn't see the decision the same way.
"I think it's disgusting," she said. "I'm
really, really disappointed with the decision."
She accused Smith of "basically throwing me
out on the street." One of her attorneys, Joseph P. McCaffery, said they would
appeal.
Renowned divorce attorney Raoul Felder
briefly represented Walsh-Smith after she made the video. Felder previously said
his client was "acting out of passion."
"This is a victim who is holding her head
up," he said. "I think she comes off well." Source: ap
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