Charlize Theron's Screen Gems
Oscar winner's lucrative jewelry deals detailed in court filing
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OCTOBER 1--It must be great to be Charlize Theron. The Oscar-winning actress not only was paid $3 million to endorse a Swiss watch, but she has banked six figures to wear a luxury jewelry firm's baubles to the Academy Awards and a British awards show, and has been lavished with valuable gifts from Cartier.
The 33-year-old star's deals were detailed yesterday in a judicial decision filed in U.S. District Court in New York, where Theron is being sued for breaching a contract with Raymond Weil, the high-end watch manufacturer. The September 30 court filing, an excerpt of which you'll find here, reveals that Theron was paid $3 million for an 18-month endorsement of one of Weil's watch lines (the firm claims the star violated terms of the 2005 deal by being photographed wearing a competitor's wares).
She also was paid $200,000 by Chopard to wear its jewels to the 2006 Oscars and received another $50,000 from the Swiss firm for wearing its gems to that year's BAFTA awards in London (Theron is pictured above in a red carpet photo from the 2006 Oscars). While Theron wore Cartier diamond stud earrings and a 'flower cuff bracelet' to the 2006 Golden Globe Awards, she was not paid by the firm. However, as Judge Colleen McMahon notes, Theron had previously received a $35,000 ring, $8000 earrings, and a $7500 bracelet as 'tokens of appreciation' from the luxury retailer.
While McMahon dismissed portions of Weil's lawsuit against Theron, she directed the parties to engage in a pre-trial settlement conference this month. (6 pages)