Liliane Bettancourt, the l'Oreal heiress whose daughter claims she's being used and abused by a shameless gigolo, is tuning the tables: she's suing her daughter for abuse.
Bettencourt, France's richest woman, is not going quietly. Daughter Francoise has claimed that her mother is unfit to handle her $20bn after Bettancourt gave photographer Francois-Marie Banier over a billion dollars' worth of gifts; she's also suing Banier for taking advantage of the aging woman. Now, Maman is suing right back: this time for "moral violence."
In addition to their familial battles, the family's involved in an illegal political-donations scandal that implicates President Sarkozy. You'd think they'd want to minimize litigation where they can — but at this point, Francoise has tried three times to have her mother made a ward of court, and Bettancourt's lawyers claim the repeated attempts "amount to a psychological violence." Talk about fighting fire with fire.
DISCUSSION
Well, if they're going to drag each other through the mud, at least they have beautiful fur coats to do it in.