CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz has been embroiled in a messy divorce that played out in a Connecticut Superior Court last week before Judge Howard Owens.
The 50-year-old has yearly earnings of $7 million at stake and blamed his wife of 26 years, Lorrie Nantz, for a marriage that broke down irretrievably over ten years ago according to his testimony. The couple have a 15-year-old daughter Caroline.
Lorrie is seeking alimony and child support in excess of $1.5 million a year. She also wants the couple’s six bedroom, six bathroom home in Westport, Connecticut.
While Nantz admits he has a 29-year-old girlfriend who he met while traveling to promote his book Always By My Side in May 2008, he assured the judge that by the time they two met, the marriage was long over.
This apparently was not information that Lorrie had been made privy to because she told the court she was still attending marriage counseling at that juncture in order to shore up their relationship.
Nantz said that his wife lost interest in his career when their daughter was 2-years-old and it was at that time that she quit traveling with him. According to his testimony, her favorite past time has been shopping. Lorrie has reportedly spent in excess of $1 million over the past nine years at Ed Mitchell alone, a high-end Westport clothing and jewelry store.
Mrs. Nantz told the court that she did attend major events with her husband, included several White House dinners during the George W. Bush administration. As proof, her lawyer showed the judge a photo of the couple posing with the Bushes and Queen Elizabeth II.
UPDATE: The judge ruled that Nantz will have to pay his wife $916,000 per year in alimony until he dies or she remarries. Their 15-year-old daughter Caroline will receive $1,000 per week until she reaches age 18. The couple’s Westport home was also awarded to Lorrie Nantz.
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