Supermodel Evangelista Appears In Court For Child Support Battle With Billionaire Ex-Boyfriend

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- She is a world-renowned supermodel. He runs a French conglomerate worth billions.

They were on opposing sides Thursday afternoon in a tiny Manhattan courtroom battling it out over child support.

Linda Evangelista and her ex-boyfriend Francois-Henri Pinault came face to face during a trial in Manhattan Family Court.

1010 WINS' Juliet Papa With More On The Story

Evangelista reportedly wants Pinault to pay $46,000 a month in support for their 5-year-old son, Augustin. However, she denied reports that she is seeking what would be a record-breaking amount, CBS 2's Dana Tyler reported.

New Yorkers seemed stunned by the apparent asking price.

"That much money is just crazy, I can't even imagine it,"  one person told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis.

"That's like, I live off that ... a year ... not a month," another person said.

Evangelista has reportedly spent a fortune on armed bodyguards and a nanny.

The current record for support payments is currently held by by Sean "Diddy" Combs, who pays $19,000 per month.

"Women who have children with extraordinarily wealthy people would end up with extraordinary amounts of money," attorney Stephan Cohen told CBS 2's Dennis.

Pinault, who is the CEO of a company that boasts holdings in Gucci, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, said it wasn't convenient for him to have a child at the time, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.

However, Evangelista said she wanted the baby and planned to take care of him.

Pinault eventually took a DNA test and acknowledged the child. He said he offered to pay child support, but said he didn't get a response from Evangelista's lawyers until he heard about a lawsuit, 1010 WINS' Papa reported.

"The fact that initially he didn't want to pay anything, well, maybe now he ends up paying big because he waited," The Insider's Kevin Frazier told CBS 2 on Thursday night.

Frazier is covering Evangelista's child support showdown and said the following about her eye-popping $16,000-per-month demand for bodyguards, $7,000 a month for a full-time nanny and $7,500 for vacations:

"And when quizzed about some of the expenses, like the around-the-clock nanny, the supermodel said: 'On days that I do not work, I am working on my image. I have to hit the gym, I have beauty appointments, I have to work toward my next job, maintaining my image just like an athlete.' So in her mind she needs every bit of that money," Frazier said.

For her part, Evangelista said she filed twice for child support, once in 2010 and again last year, but both times her claims went unanswered, CBS 2 reported.

Pinault has since married actress Salma Hayek. The couple has a 3-year-old daughter, who has a $12 million house in Los Angeles entrusted to her.

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