Phil Collins and his ex-wife Orianne Cevey faced off — online, at least — Wednesday in front of a judge, in the latest chapter of their ongoing multi-million-dollar legal battle over Phil’s Miami mansion.
The New York Post reports that Phil and Orianne are fighting over the proceeds to the mansion, which he sold in January of 2021 for $40 million. Phil believes Orianne has no right to half the proceeds from the house; she thinks otherwise. In their latest court filing, Phil’s lawyers accuse Orianne of “committing a fraud” when it comes to the various affidavits she’s filed in connection with the case.
Phil and Orianne were married from 1999 to 2008. Orianne then married Charles Mejjati, but divorced him, she claims, after Phil promised to give her half of the proceeds from the Miami mansion if she split up with Mejjati. She also claims that Phil asked her to move in with him and said he’d “take care” of her.
Phil denies ever promising her half the house. However, the two did reconcile in 2016 and were together until 2020, when Orianne secretly married another man named Thomas Bates — who, court papers reveal, she “picked from a male escort site.”
She then moved Bates into the Miami mansion when Phil was in Europe; the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was forced to legally evict them. Phil then sold the mansion and moved to Switzerland.
Phil’s lawyers say there are “literally dozens of additional irreconcilable conflicts between” Orianne’s position in the case and things she stated in 2016 when she divorced Mejjati.
Orianne was Phil’s third wife. They have two children: 21-year-old Nic — who drummed in Phil’s place during his farewell tour with Genesis — and Matthew, 17.
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