Russell Brand Might Get $20 Million in Divorce From Katy Perry
EmailRussell Brand’s divorce from singer Katy Perry could make him $20 million richer, thanks to California law and the couple’s reported decision not to sign a prenuptial agreement when they tied the knot 14 months ago.
The comedian, 36, who filed for divorce Friday, told New York magazine last year that the couple did not sign a pre-nup prior to their Oct. 23, 2010, wedding in India after a yearlong, whirlwind romance.
Under California law, without a pre-nup, the couple, who met at the 2009 MTV Music Awards, must split their earnings 50/50.
Forbes magazine reports Perry, 27, the singer behind hits such as “Last Friday Night” and “Fireworks,” is worth at least $44 million.
The projected divorce payout would out-value even Brand himself, who is estimated to be worth around $15 million.
The “Arthur” star released a statement Friday announcing the divorce: “Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends.”
Divorce papers filed by Brand’s lawyers at Los Angeles Superior Court cited “irreconcilable differences,” according to TMZ, which obtained the divorce documents.
The first public signs of difficulties between the couple came around Christmas when the two were spotted celebrating thousands of miles apart - Brand in Britain with his family and Perry in Hawaii – and without their wedding rings. Us Weekly reported that Perry and Brand had “a massive fight” just before the holiday.
“This split was something that’s been discussed,” Ian Drew, senior editor at Us Weekly, told ABC News.
“Did she know that he would draw up papers during a holiday right before New Year’s Eve? I think that was a big surprise,” he said.
Just one month earlier, Perry told ABC News’ Barbara Walters in an interview that all was well in the couple’s marriage, and that she envisioned starting a family with Brand. “I think that it’s lovely so far,” the singer said of their marriage.
“Yes, of course,” she responded, when asked about having kids together. “I think that is one of the big reasons why you do get married.”
Sources close to the couple say that Perry’s partying was upsetting to Brand, a recovering heroin addict, and that he did not approve of her circle of friends, who include A-list names such as fellow pop star Rihanna.
It was also reported that Brand submitted the divorce papers at the request of Perry, who did not want to upset her parents.
Reps for Perry and Brand did not respond to ABCNews.com’s requests for comment Friday.
Perry has remained quiet on the split, while Brand spoke out to reporters this weekend. “I’m doing good,” he told London’s Daily Star. “Everything is going to be better next year.”
ABC News’ Luchina Fisher contributed to this report.
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Wow, HE divorced HER. Considering how weird he acted on late night shows, I would’ve thought she would have left him.
Posted by: bibbitybobbityboo | January 2, 2012, 11:31 am 11:31 am
He probably won’t take it – but he should.
The law won’t change as long as one gender believes they are above the law.
Russel you are an example to other people – other people who may be shy about enforcing their rights but need to do so.
Go to court and demand all the money that is coming to you.
Posted by: RoboBobo | January 2, 2012, 11:33 am 11:33 am
Wow, ROBOBOBO, really? She earned all that money herself, and he didn’t help her one bit.
THe right thing IMO to do if I were him and got all that money I would give it back.
Posted by: Jackie | January 2, 2012, 11:50 am 11:50 am
Remain friends? Not if he takes millions from her.
Posted by: rippedpockets | January 2, 2012, 11:58 am 11:58 am
Wow, what a slimeball. Another Kevin Federline, how typical. Is he not ashamed to batten upon the frailty of a woman?
Posted by: Wendy | January 2, 2012, 12:21 pm 12:21 pm
I hate to see anyone go through something as difficult and heartbreaking as a divorce. I guess this is more proof that having lots of money doesn’t mean you don’t have problems.
Posted by: Jess | January 2, 2012, 12:52 pm 12:52 pm
I think it’s hilarious that some people on here think that he shouldn’t take any money. How about when it’s the other way around and a trophy wife takes most everything from her famous, rich husband? Then it’s ok, right? I don’t think he should take it but so many women create this sense of entitlement for themselves and that in itself is pathetic. On one hand I don’t think he should take any of the cash that “he has coming to him”, but on the other maybe he should to prove a point and show that not only men can get screwed over.
Posted by: Casey | January 2, 2012, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
I think it’s fine that he takes millions from her. In the past, the guys were the ones allowed to make big paychecks and women had to stay home and clean. NOW women get to be 5x more successful than the men. I love it! You go girl. Go make $40million more. He sure can’t :)
Posted by: bibbity bobbity boo-ya | January 2, 2012, 1:29 pm 1:29 pm
They both knew the laws that would apply when they got married. He may be entitled to but when they settle this he should take less than that. He’s an entertainer so he knows its a feast or famine business. Katy Perry’s “partying” was bothering him. IPartying has many definitions. It makes you wonder what type she was doing. 14 months is on the low side and sets a bad example for others.
Posted by: drmayeda | January 2, 2012, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
If he gets half of hers and she gets half of his wouldn’t that mean he nets 14.5? I see ABC off about 5 1/2 million or does split down the middle only mean half of the person with the most money?
Posted by: dan | January 2, 2012, 2:25 pm 2:25 pm
He should do as any slimeball wife would, take her to the bank.
Posted by: jimcrowROCKS | January 2, 2012, 2:45 pm 2:45 pm
Their assets are split so 20mil doesn’t add up… he doesn’t simply take half of her $. Poor reporting! And, yes, he should get half.
Posted by: Math101 | January 2, 2012, 3:13 pm 3:13 pm
In California, property acquired before the marriage is non-marital property while those acquired during the marriage is marital property. Also, gifts and inherintance to either spouse during the marriage are non-marital property. The couple could have submitted a marital property settlement agreement together with their divorce papers indicating how they want to allocate their marital property. The article is wrong in that Perry wont have to give 50% of her assets as most of these she would have acquired before she married Brand, and same with him. They would only need to divide their earnings and assets they acquired during their marriage of so many months (?). And if they have a settlement drawn up with the divorce papers, and if the court deems it to be fair to both parties, then the division of their joint properties does not necessarily have to be 50-50.
Posted by: Shesays | January 2, 2012, 5:26 pm 5:26 pm
You go Russell Brand! Katy Perry’s music sucks, she doesn’t deserve $20 million in her bank. I hope her career bombs from here on out like it should have from the beginning. In fact, all of this terrible music from a surprising metric ton of pop artists this past year should go in a dumpster and never be spoken of again.
And it’s not like this is Brand’s fault either. Whatever problems are to be had are on Perry’s end, because Brand is the one divorcing her. If it were reversed, everyone would be like “OOO, Russell Brand must’ve really screwed her over to incite a divorce!!! What a jerk!” But no, when it’s Katy Perry on the receiving end, all of a sudden it’s “poor girl getting picked on by some guy”. Freakin’ American sexism, man.
Posted by: CryotiC | January 2, 2012, 6:14 pm 6:14 pm
@cryotic, fault doesn’t lay upon the one who didn’t file. A marriage is made up of two people, and so is a divorce. Like the saying goes, it takes two to tango. It simply means he beat her to the punch. He’ll likely take the brunt of the legal fees, too. It’s hard to believe that in this day and age they wouldn’t have signed a prenup. I agree that he is entitled but I have to wonder if the length of time they spent as a married couple shouldn’t be taken into account. Personally, I’ve dated people for longer than fourteen months. I find it interesting, the claims that she asked him to file as to not infuriate her religious parents. This, coming from the woman who’s song lyrics include “infect me with your love, fill me with your poison”? I highly doubt there’s any truth to that.
Posted by: Mobalajee | January 2, 2012, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
GOOD FOR HIM! It’s about time ladies started feeling the pain of financial loss during divorce! I hope to hear about MANY more stories like this in the future as men fall behind in education and job prospects. Bring on the sugar momma’s and big divorce settlements for the guys!
Posted by: afkbrad | January 3, 2012, 3:51 am 3:51 am
If she took millions from him every woman reading this would say she deserved it. However, since the shoe’s on the other foot women are ready to crucify this guy for merely following the laws put in place by feminists years ago. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Posted by: afkbrad | January 3, 2012, 4:14 am 4:14 am
Did you hear about the woman in California who has to pay her ex husband monthly alimony for life even though she divorced him because he beat and raped her? LOL, the irony is there’s a push to reform California’s alimony laws so that men and women are treated equally and guess who’s fighting it tooth and nail? Feminists! You ladies keep ponying up the cash after a divorce and you might rethink what is fair and equitable after a while. I just hope it’s a LONG while so men can get some payback after how they’ve been treated for generations.
Posted by: afkbrad | January 3, 2012, 4:18 am 4:18 am
We need more stories like this to remind us that true equality can be painful.
Additionally, we can expect the typical male-bashing followups from the usual groups–not because they want equality, but because their true agenda is gender superiority. Too bad they missed the futility their own objectives.
Posted by: KmaImprov | January 3, 2012, 11:49 am 11:49 am
The reason that most people would find it agreeable for the female to get a divorce settlement is that in most cases, men make more. Isn’t the statistic women make .75¢ to a males $1.00 for the same work? This is still a man’s world. Let us not pretend that men are women are equal in reagrds to pay. They are not.
Posted by: Cecilia | January 3, 2012, 2:01 pm 2:01 pm
Oh please he doesn’t need her money. He’s worth ONLY 15 million??? He isn’t going to go for money and they wouldn’t give it to him anyhow. They were only married 14 months. She only accrued a fraction of her fortune during that time. Russel Brand will be famous and funny long after Katy Perry bites the dust.
Posted by: kamjosky | January 6, 2012, 8:25 am 8:25 am
After he filed for divorce it makes me wonder if all he was after was her money from the beginning. It was very stupid of Perry to marry a recovering herion addict without a prenup. Kim Kardashian is probably in bliss that so many other Celebrities are getting divorced so that she can go on with her life after her scandalous marriage.
Posted by: Jade B. | January 6, 2012, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
He is entitled to the money, doesn’t mean he will take the money. One parties the other one is sober…where did they think this was going? its not healthy for him to be around her if she is partying it up. he is a serious addict.
Posted by: jimbo | January 9, 2012, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm
First off, learn to add reporters! 50/50 of THEIR earnings put TOGETHER. 15 million plus 44 million equals 59 Million, divided in HALF equal a little less than 30 million each. 15 Million was originally his which means he’s only…duh, less than 15 million dollars richer. Not over 20 million. Marriage to Katy Perry doubled his net worth.
Posted by: Kat | January 11, 2012, 4:44 pm 4:44 pm
I love how all the guys on here are cheering for him to take her money. Yeah, wonderful demonstration of your gender. Now I know how you really feel.
Posted by: J | January 12, 2012, 7:44 am 7:44 am
wow, i can’t belive he is divorcing Katy perry, she should be divorcing him. she hot and stuff and he is ugly.
Posted by: joseph bosley | January 12, 2012, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
GO RUS
IGNORANCE IS BLISS
17 MONTHS EARN 20 MILLION
HE IS THE BEST
I BET THIS YEAR WILL BE GREAT/
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
CELEBS ARE SO DUMB MAN… SHE SAW BRITTANY SHE HALLE.. DAMN
BUT HEY THEY ARE NOT SCHOLARS JUST DUMB CELEBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: wifey06 | January 25, 2012, 11:24 am 11:24 am
I SWEAR TO GOD
J HUD
GET A PRE-NUP
IF HE LOVES YOUHE KNOWS HE GONNA BE AROUND PERIOD ANYWAY
!!!!!
JENNNIFER HUSDON !! GET A PRE-NUP
Posted by: wifey06 | January 25, 2012, 11:25 am 11:25 am
This marriage was never going to work, stupid celebrities making a mockery out of marriage. Its just a shame two successful grown up people couldnt of worked out wether they wanted to settle down and have kids before saying i do. He should take the money ! look at the women of the world taking their husbands to the cleaners.
Posted by: mark kinnear | February 15, 2012, 9:38 pm 9:38 pm