Shakira’s lawyer confirmed on Tuesday that her ex-fiance Antonio De la Rua filed a lawsuit seeking to freeze “substantial assets” in the singer’s bank accounts as compensation.
In a new development in the back-and-forth spat between Shakira and her ex-boyfriend who she was with for 11 years, the Colombian singer’s lawyer confirmed that “there exist demands from a lawsuit filed in July,” in which De la Rua sought to “freeze substantial assests in Shakira’s bank.”
According to Spanish newswire EFE, the document says that “the request for the freezing of Shakira’s assets was denied by the judge, however the proceedings on the issue continue.”
The son of former Argentine president Fernando De la Rua argued that he abandoned his career as a publicist while dating the curvy Colombian and instead devoted himself to becoming her business manager, which resulted in the star signing a deal reportedly worth $100 million with entertainment company Live Nation.
Recent reports in the media have put the petulent Argentine’s demands at $250 million, a claim denied last week by his lawyer Alberto Petracchi, in a statement where he asserted that “Shakira and De la Rua have terminated their commercial partnership that had joined them for 12 years.”
In his statement to the media De la Rua’s lawyer quoted a letter Shakira had posted on her blog in 2011 announcing the couple’s split, in which she said, “Antonio continues conducting all of my business and career interests as he always has. We continue forward as business partners, developing projects together hand in hand and in permanent communication.” The lawyer allegedly took the break-up letter out of context in attempts to portray an official business agreement between the two.
This denial has prompted Shakira’s lawyer to contest that Petracchi is “trying to use the media to disseminate misinformation with respect to the relationship between Ms. Shakira Mebarak Ripoll and Mr. De la Rua.”
The singer’s lawyer added that nothing official existed in the way of a commercial partnership between Shakira and “Antonito” with regard to the Colombian’s artistic activities, according to EFE.
The lawyer also claimed that Shakira is not obligated to give any more money to De la Rua based on their existing marital capitulation, the Colombian equivalent of a prenuptial agreement, which they both signed when they formed their relationship as a couple.
Shakira is currently engaged to the Spanish soccer player Gerard Pique whom she met while shooting her World Cup “Waka Waka” music video in 2010, and speculation that she is pregnant has been abundant over the last few weeks.
This lawsuit comes on top of the August court case when she sued two former employees for defamation and extortion. This is part of an on-going saga during which her empoyees of 11 years claimed to have a sex-tape of the singer for which they attempted to blackmail her and then tried to sell to Spanish media.
There was even speculation in the media that De la Rua had been behind the sex-tape rumors, but even so this latest development is sure to put a definitive end to the “friendship and understanding” between the two which she described in her 2011 letter as “unwavering and indestructible.”
