International Law

Divorce By YouTube

We've written previously on the troubling emergence of the "divorce blog,"

These are web logs in which a party to a matrimonial proceeding typically airs the family's "dirty laundry" for all to see.

Tricia Walsh-Smith, one of the protagonists in a bitter Broadway divorce-in-progress, has now taken this disturbing trend up a notch.

She has brought her grievances to the nation - via YouTube:

CNN has the story:

Some prominent New York divorce lawyers couldn't think of another case where a spouse -- in this instance, the wife of a major Broadway theater operator -- had taken to YouTube to spill the secrets of a marriage in an apparent effort to gain leverage and humiliate the other side.

"This is absolutely a new step, and I think it's scary," said Bonnie Rabin, a divorce lawyer who has handled high-profile cases. "People used to worry about getting on Page Six [the gossip page of the New York Post]. But this? It brings the concept of humiliation to a whole new level."

In a tearful and furious YouTube video with close to 150,000 hits to date, former actress and playwright ("Bonkers") Tricia Walsh-Smith lashes out against her husband, Philip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway,

She goes through their wedding album on camera, describing family members as "bad" or "evil" or "nasty," and talks about how her husband is allegedly trying to evict her from their luxury apartment. She also makes embarrassing claims regarding their intimate life, and then calls his office on camera to repeat those claims to a stunned assistant .

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Full post as published by Wise Law Blog on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).