THE WRAP-UP
THE TV STAR COULD BE SENDING DAD TO JAIL
Heidi’s sending her dad to jail, Captain Stubing takes his last cruise, and what Dolly wouldn’t be seen dead in!
What’s in a name? Quite a lot when you’re a Klum! German supermodel Heidi is locked in a bitter legal battle with her estranged dad over the trademarking of her 17-year-old daughter’s moniker.
Heidi’s father Günther has not only trademarked his granddaughter Leni Olumi Klum’s name, but also the teenager’s affectionate nickname “Mausekatze”, which translates to ‘Mousecat’ in English. And Heidi is seeing red.
Worried about potential issues with her eldest daughter’s blossoming modelling career, the America’s Got Talent judge, 48, has threatened Günther, 75, with an injunction in an attempt to regain the rights to Leni’s name – and it’s believed that if the trademarking can be proven to have been done with “malicious intent”, Günther could face six months in jail.
Astute businessman Günther guided Heidi through many of her lucrative advertising deals and the pair used to be very close, but insiders say something has gone seriously wrong in their relationship.
Günther didn’t turn up to Heidi’s wedding to Tokio Hotel guitarist Tom Kaulitz in 2019 and Heidi appears to have cut her father out of her business dealings.
“It’s terrifically sad,” says a friend of Heidi. Günther has responded by saying, “I requested the trademark of Leni months ago. She has her name from my mother Leni. The rights to the trademark Leni Klum are with me.”
With regards to possible jail time, he joked on social media, “Who will send me the cake with the baked-in file?”