Phil Collins Is Suing Ex-Wife Orianne Cevey For Forcefully Occupying His Miami House (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
Advertisement
British singer and songwriter Phil Collins is suing his ex-wife Orianne Cevey for allegedly refusing to move out of his Miami estate after secretly marrying a man named Thomas Bates. As per reports, Collins, who temporarily relocated to his house in Switzerland, is seeking a temporary restraining order against the couple and is also looking to protect his personal belongings that remain inside the Miami house.
According to a lawsuit filed by the singer last week, Cevey has hired a crew of four armed guards to patrol the home and bar real estate agents from showing the house. The lawsuit also states that she has changed the security codes for the alarms and blocked surveillance cameras.
As per a report on ACEShowbiz, Phil Collins alleged that Orianne and her new husband Thomas Bates are “threatening, implicitly and explicitly, to prolong their unlawful occupation of the property through force.”
The lawsuit by Phil Collins stated, “An injunction is urgently needed to end an armed occupation and takeover of the Phil Collins home by his ex girlfriend and her new husband, the defendants in the action.” The filing also states that it’s said that Orianne Cevey is threatening to release private information about her famous ex unless he pays her “a preposterous amount of money based on an oral agreement that does not exist.”
As per the suit, Phil is also concerned about his memorabilia, including multiple awards and instruments, his collection of artefacts from the Battle of the Alamo, family pictures, his music collection and his piano. He believes that “Mrs. Bates or Mr. Bates or their agents will remove, conceal or destroy valuable and irreplaceable personal property.”
Jeffrey Fisher, Phil Collins’ lawyer, told the Miami Herald in a statement that Cevey was allegedly trying to use Collins for money. Said the attorney, “Mrs Bates, as she is now known, is trying to shake down Phil Collins for money, and as his attorney and former federal prosecutor, I have zero tolerance for that type of behaviour. I’m going to use every legal remedy to get her out of the house.”
Owing to this concern by Phil, on Tuesday, a judge agreed that to protect his personal and irreplaceable property at the residence, the singer’s team has the right to enter the place and take an inventory stating which items are his. According to the reports, if both parties agree the articles are solely his, they will be sent to Collins or will be sent to storage, where it will remain until a hearing or settlement conference happens.
Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey exchanged marriage vows in 1999 and split in 2008. Their $47m divorce made international headlines. The couple reconciled in 2016 and remained together until early this year. However, Cevey secretly married struggling musician Thomas Bates this past August and moved into the couple’s $33m Miami home while Collins was abroad. Collins and Cevey shares two teenage sons, Nicholas (19) and Matthew (15).
