A judge ruled Monday that Terrence Howard’s second ex-wife, 36-year-old Michelle Ghent, will not be entitled to the divorce settlement agreement that was originally drawn up. The former couple will now have to compile a new financial arrangement.
Howard’s attorneys argued that the only reason the actor had agreed to give Ghent so much money in their divorce settlement was because she threatened to release personal information about him which could have potentially ended his career. She also reportedly told him she would release phone sex audio of Howard talking to other women and a video of him dancing naked in a bathroom.
During the four-day hearing, Superior Court Judge Thomas Trent Lewis listened to a 2011 call with Ghent telling Howard that if he didn’t give her a certain sum of money, she would sell information about him. In response to her threats, Howard’s accountant sent her $40K.
Lewis said that the “evidence of extortion or duress” from Ghent against Howard “was unrebutted.” Ghent will lose out on their initial financial agreement, which would have entitled her to almost $6,000 per month and a large chunk of money the 46-year-old actor makes from his hit Fox TV show “Empire.”
The legal battle revealed intimate details about Howard, including the fact that he is already divorced from his third wife, with whom he recently had a son. Details about his marriage to Ghent were also exposed, such as the couple getting into physical fights and Howard cheating on her during their engagement. It was also disclosed that Howard was abusive toward his first wife.
