Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the Lincoln Center in New York (4/27)
Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson finally dropped
their lawsuit against a woman who allegedly sold them a fake Beatles poster. From
TMZ:
Tom Hanks is now officially the proud owner of a $75,000 Beatles poster, because his wife has dropped her lawsuit claiming the art was bogus.
Rita Wilson sued Melissa Pearl, claiming the poster from 1962-- which she bought for Hanks -- never came with the proper authentication. But Pearl anted up a doc from Sotheby's and Rita now seems satisfied. So the case is history.
I think we can all relate to Tom on this one. After all, who among us has never been burned after dropping one thirteenth of a million dollars on something to hang above the toilet in the guest bathrrom? I swear, the market for >$50k posters is like a minefield.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at a benefit in San Francisco (10/27)
It's not just Christina Aguilera and Martha Stewart feeling the heat. Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson have fallen upon hard times as well. From TMZ:
Tom Hanks is being dragged into the middle of a legal war over The Beatles. Tom's wife, Rita Wilson, just had to have a 1962 vintage Beatles poster priced at $75,000 as a gift for Hanks. According to legal papers filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Wilson agreed to ante up -- provided the seller, Melissa Pearl, coughed up a certificate of authenticity. When Pearl came up dry, Wilson said she would bail on the deal.That's when Pearl, "became belligerent" demanding not only the $75k but an additional $300,000 "for what Pearl absurdly characterized as her time and trouble to obtain the evidence requested by Wilson that the poster was authentic." Wilson wants a judge to declare she can legally walk from the deal. (Source)
It's sad to see really. A legal mess over a simple little $75,000 poster and $300k certificate of authenticity. How embarrassing. During better times, I remember when celebrities would light their fancy cigarettes with $75,000 posters. My how times have changed.
[WENN]
