Director Tim Burton with girlfriend Lisa Marie |
HOLLYWOOD - Director Tim Burton fraudulently stripped his former girlfriend Lisa Marie of her right to palimony, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday by the model.
Marie claims Burton, her lawyer and her friends conspired to cheat her out of her rights to assets the filmmaker promised during their nearly 10-year relationship.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges the ex-couple started their relationship in 1991 and that, in 1992, Burton promised to provide Marie with "financial support and needs for the rest of her life."
Marie also claims they agreed to combine their worldly assets.
Burton ended their relationship in August 2001, after which Marie became "extremely depressed and emotionally unstable for months."
According to Marie's lawsuit, it was at this point that Burton conspired with her financial advisors, her lawyer and her friend Cherry Vanilla to persuade Marie she wouldn't be able to legally make Burton support her for life.
The suit states: "They unconscionably played upon Plaintiff's emotional weakness by continually telling her that she was facing poverty unless she entered into a settlement with Burton on terms acceptable to Burton."
Marie hopes to rescind the settlement claiming fraud. She is also seeking damages of more than $25,000, according to TMZ.com.
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