HER 76-year-old multi-millionaire husband wanted to divorce her and throw her out of their New York apartment.So former actress Tricia Walsh-Smith, 52, retaliated by posting a video on YouTube ranting about their non-existent sex life.
Now she has lost the divorce case and is given 30 days to leave the £pounds;4.5m ($12m) apartment she shared with Broadway theatre mogul Philip Smith, reported the Daily Mail.
PRE-NUPTIAL Mr Smith, who is worth an estimated £pounds;15m, will also pay Walsh-Smith £pounds;375,000 - far less than she wanted - after a judge in Manhattan ruled that a pre-nuptial agreement signed before the couple's wedding in October 1999 was valid.
In her video, which received more than three million hits, she claimed Mr Smith would not have sex with her because he said he had high blood pressure, but that she found Viagra at their home.Walsh-Smith, who is British, 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 being evicted by her husband.Judge Harold Beeler said the video amounted to 'cruel and inhuman' treatment and granted Mr Smith a divorce. Walsh-Smith plans to appeal.Mr Smith yesterday 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 added.Walsh-Smith 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 her ex-husband of 'basically throwing me out on the street'.
The famed divorce attorney Mr Raoul Felder began representing Walsh-Smith after she made the video. Mr Felder previously had termed the whole thing 'funny, but there's also sadness'.
PASSION Mr Felder has explained that his client was 'acting out of passion'.He called the pre-nuptial agreement she had signed with Mr Smith 'stupid'. So why did his client sign?'Why do women sign these things? Love is blind. And sometimes it is deaf and dumb too,' Mr Felder said.He added that the video was the act of a powerless person, and 'revolutions are made by powerless people'.