Anonymous v. Anonymous: The Secret Divorces

Anthony Weiner’s public and private activities have been splashed over media outlets around the world. Besides his unsuccessful run for mayor of New York in 2013, and the discovery of “Hillary” emails on his computer, there has been rampant media coverage of his arrest for sexting an underage teen, and his 21-month prison sentence.

But even more recently was the news that Huma Abedin, Mr. Weiner’s wife, and former top aide to Hillary Clinton, made an application to the New York divorce court to keep their divorce proceedings private, with their names hidden from the public via an “Anonymous v. Anonymous” designation.

In the world of celebrity divorce, where notoriety for the wrong reasons is to be avoided, celebrities often convince judges to ignore their written policies on open and transparent courts.

New York is just like British Columbia, where divorce and family law files are not searchable by the general public or the media, but only by the parties themselves, their lawyers, or any other lawyer. Family Court hearings are always public, and once a court makes a ruling, Reasons for Judgment are posted on the internet, and the details of the proceedings are fair game for publication. In some cases, where children are involved, a court will initialize the parties’ and their children’s names, but this is also the exception and not the rule.

Leading divorce lawyers in Los Angeles and New York have spilled the beans on certain judges and celebrities who have manipulated the system to avoid the ignominy of having their personal peccadilloes and financial wherewithal, (or not), broadcast for public consumption. Los Angeles divorce attorney Laura Wasser says the reasons celebrities want anonymity is varied, but for some it’s because they are embarrassed at their lack of a substantial net worth.

One example of a notorious “anonymous” divorce was the divorce of Mayor Rudy Guliani and his wife Donna Hanover in 2000. Guiliani was the mayor of New York, involved in an affair with staff member, Judith Nathan, who he later married. His divorce attorney, Raoul Felder applied for the designation but even he admitted that everyone who followed the case knew it was the mayor’s divorce. Felder also noted that the presiding judge, Justice Judith Gische at one point said that it was silly to continue the anonymous designation, but it remained in place throughout the proceedings.

Even more startling was the divorce of Real Housewives of New York star, Bethanny Frankel, whose whole life was on display on her reality television show, nonetheless, her lawyer was able to convince Judge Ellen Gesmer to anonymize her divorce from Jason Hopper. Judge Gesmer even kept the “public” hearings private by keeping the case off the court docket sheets typically displayed on boards on the ground floor of the courthouse.

As for Huma and Anthony, the court ruled against them this week, ensuring that their divorce case will not be sequestered. A better incentive to settle out of court could not be found!

Lawdiva aka Georgialee Lang