Shakira is Being Sued by Ex-Boyfriend Antonio de la Rua for $100 Million

Antonio de la Rua is reportedly suing Shakira for $100 million.

ByABC News
November 26, 2012, 11:42 AM

Nov. 26, 2012— -- Didn't anyone tell them not to mix business with love? Shakira's ex Antonio de la Rua is reportedly suing her for $100 million for the work he put into her career, according to Courthouse News Service, which obtained the new court documents from the New York State Supreme Court.

During their relationship (from 2000 to 2010), de la Rua, the son of former Argentine president Fernando de la Rua, came to oversee Shakira's business and legal affairs at her request, and is claiming that he, among other things, negotiated her $300 million deal with Live Nation, in addition to her lucrative fragrance deal.

Following the split, Shakira released a statement on her website (which has since been taken down but is available here) that stated de la Rua would continue to be her business partner. "Antonio continues to oversee and conduct my business and career interests as he has always done," it read. "We move forward as partners, developing projects together, working hand in hand and in close communication. Our friendship and understanding of one another is unwavering and indestructible."

However, the complaint states that de la Rua was "terminated" in 2011:

"She did not speak to de la Rua directly, but instructed a lawyer to tell him that he had been 'terminated.' From that day, Mebarak has adopted a strategy of trying to rewrite history, which includes denying the existence of a partnership, belittling de la Rua's contributions to the partnership, and mischaracterizing past events."

The doc goes on to state that Shakira has "wrongfully refused to pay de la Rua his percentage of the profits of the partnership for 2011 or the value of his share of the partnership upon dissolution."

You don't need a lawyer to translate that – this might get ugly.

The complaint was filed in New York, where Shakira keeps a home, even though she lives in Barcelona with Gerard Pique, with whom she's expecting her first child. De la Rua lives in Uruguay.