Home Top

American mother gunned down in Mali massacre: Aid worker is named as first victim after terrorists slaughtered 27 at hotel favored by Westerners leaving bodies piled up in gore-spattered corridors
EXCLUSIVE - The extreme lengths five young Syrian men went to in bid to enter the US amid ISIS fears: Greek passports forged in Brazil, hopping from country to country and not checking luggage to avoid scrutiny
How $700-a-month ISIS video producers dictate the terrorist group's every action and receive better treatment (any better salaries) than any of their peers
Chris Christie in mystery security scare: His plane returns to the gate, passengers are searched and one man is taken off the flight after 'threatening' the New Jersey governor
Fingerprints now reveal that TWO of the Paris suicide bombers had entered Europe through Greece a month before the attacks
Pro-refugee protests are staged across US amid outrage at Trump for agreeing with 'Nazi-like' plan to make Muslims register
Obama says Mali attack 'stiffens our resolve' as he condemns atrocity and meets refugees on the latest leg of his Asian tour
'We didn't know how close we were to being killed': Revealed, the friends who survived Paris massacre because jihadi's AK-47 ran out of bullets in Mail's incredible video
UN Security Council approves 'all necessary measures' to fight the 'global and unprecedented threat' of ISIS in wake of Paris attacks
'Cowgirl' cousin did NOT blow herself up... but died when third ISIS terrorist detonated suicide vest standing next to her in Paris siege apartment, police reveal
Shadow of a bloody past: For centuries, Islam and Christianity were locked in a brutal conflict most have forgotten. The horror, a top historian argues, is that for jihadis it's as real today as it was in the Middle Ages
Jihadi suspect arrested in Sweden after crossing Arctic Circle on a BICYCLE to sneak into Europe via the backdoor
Thousands of Canadians line the streets to pay tribute to ex-soldier who joined Kurdish militia and died fighting ISIS
'Christmas is a charade': Pope says atrocities such as Paris massacre have made festivities meaningless in a world which has chosen 'war and hate'
'We shouldn't be scared - we are still going out': Defiant Parisians pack the streets of the French capital to honour of those killed exactly one week ago
'This is for Paris': Russian pilots write messages of support for terror victims on their bombs before launching latest air raids and cruise missile strikes against ISIS
Air France plane traveling from Paris to San Francisco performs mystery u-turn over the English Channel and lands back at Charles de Gaulle airport
Flagship Manhattan Apple Store brought to a standstill as man in a mask terrorizes customers with a Samurai sword
CCTV shows massacre mastermind jump barriers and use Metro without a ticket as terror reigned across Paris
Brother of Paris mastermind was arrested in Morocco last month after arriving in his father's hometown and has been held in custody ever since
Newlywed couple let seven frightened strangers fleeing from the Paris terror attacks join them in their honeymoon suite for the night
The puppy who will grow up to be France's next Diesel: Little Dobrynia is donated by Russia as a sign of solidarity to replace hero canine killed by suicide jihadi
Mark Zuckerberg will take two months of paternity leave - six weeks MORE time off than Marissa Mayer took after birth and two months less than he offers his employees
Horrific details emerge in trial of student who 'raped and murdered his teacher' as the jury is shown the stick he 'used to assault her'

Salma Hayek's husband Francois-Henri Pinault breaks his silence on 'secret son' with Linda Evangelista

By Mike Larkin
Updated: 01:55 EST, 13 September 2011

View
comments

Billionaire Fracois-Henri Pinault has defended his conduct towards the 'secret' son he fathered with supermodel Linda Evangelista.

Speaking for his first time on the subject, he told the French edition of Elle magazine that four-year-old Augustin is an important member of his family.

He also said he has always 'recognised' the boy as his own and that his three-year-old daughter Valentina treats him like a brother.

Speaking out: Francois-Henri Pinault has defended his conduct towards his lovechild with former lover Linda Evangelista and says he has always recognised him as his son

He said: 'At every possible opportunity he has participated in my family life whether in France or the United States.

'He is totally integrated within my family.'

Mr Pinault, 49, has a close relationship with his daughter by actress wife Salma Hayek, who was born 11 months after Augustin.

But he is currently embroiled in a bitter legal battle over how much money he should pay to his son with his former lover, and it has been claimed she took legal action after failing to reach a settlement out of court.

Billion dollar baby: Supermodel Evangelista is seeking a huge settlement for her son from the fashion mogul

The French businessman has been accused by the supermodel's lawyer of paying nothing in child support since his birth.

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.'

Ms Evangelista is asking for a whopping $46,000 a month in child support - a figure so astronomical it reportedly 'made the judge's jaw drop'.

However a request for $7,500 per month for vacation expenses was immediately removed from the request in a hearing at Manhattan Family Court last month.

The ageing model argues 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.

His favourite? The supermodel is angry he is already investing money for his daughter with Salma Hayek while not doing the same for his son

Mr Pinault's lawyer, David Aaronson, questioned 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).'

The judge then asked the model, who famously said in a 1990 interview 'We (supermodels) don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day,' how many hours she works.

She replied: '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.

'When I work, it can be a 16-hour day.'

Mr Pinault has deep pockets as he is the the chief executive of PPR, the group which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta.

The executive's family are also worth worth an estimated $11.5billion (£7billion).

It only emerged he was the father in July, after years of rumours.

Evangelista said in various interviews that Augustin's father was a 'New York architect.'