Names and faces
Rudy Giuliani’s lavish spending, including thousands of dollars a month on cigars and jewelry for a new love interest, undermines his claim that he can’t afford to pay his soon-to-be ex-wife support of $63,000 a month, her divorce lawyer told a Manhattan judge Wednesday. The former
New York City mayor spent about $900,000 over five months, including $12,000 on cigars and $7,000 on pens, Bernard Clair, the attorney for Giuliani’s estranged wife, Judith Nathan, said at a hearing. Nathan filed for divorce in April. “When a man, a litigant, whether it’s Mr. Giuliani or a bartender in Buffalo, makes the claim that he can’t make the payments anymore and we have to lower our expectations, we look at spending,” Clair said. Giuliani’s assertion that he can’t afford to pay Nathan is undercut by the millions of dollars he’s earmarked to earn this year and his decision to work for free as Trump’s lawyer, Clair said. Giuliani, who’s known President Donald Trump for decades, sat quietly in a pinstriped suit and took notes while Clair spoke animatedly about the luxury lifestyle the couple once shared. Clair also questioned Giuliani’s claim that Nathan has “jazzed up” her expenses for the court, noting that the pair both calculated their personal monthly expenses at roughly $230,000 each. “It seems both parties spend money on certain expenses that most Americans wouldn’t,” Justice Michael Katz said. “But that was their lifestyle.” Giuliani’s lawyer, Faith Miller, said Nathan had mischaracterized some of Giuliani’s expenses, noting some were on her behalf. The lawyer also defended Giuliani’s decision to work for Trump for free after years in public service. “At age 74, if he chooses to work without compensation for the president rather than, say, at a private law firm, I submit that he should be entitled to do so,” Miller said.
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson has received one of Britain’s highest awards from Prince William — and thought about giving him a kiss at the Buckingham Palace ceremony. Thompson, 59, received a damehood on Wednesday in recognition for her notable career, an event made special by the fact that it was given to her by William, a longtime friend. “I love Prince William. I’ve known him since he was little, and we just sniggered at each other,” she says. “I said, ‘I can’t kiss you, can I?’ And he said, ‘No don’t’!” Thompson was named for the female equivalent of a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List in June. She plans to use the honor to focus attention on the plight of poor children who don’t get adequate food during school holidays.