Stephen Collins, Faye Grant finalize divorce settlement
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Actor Stephen Collins and his ex-wife, Faye Grant, have finalized a settlement after three years of divorce proceedings.
When the judge asked both sides if they wanted to be divorced, Collins and Grant said yes. Under oath, the parties told the judge their differences are irreconcilable. They also confirmed that they entered the agreement freely and voluntarily.
"It's a long, long three-year arduous period, and to all of sudden have it over like that, to have his marriage terminated today, to have everything as we had tried to make it for the last three years come to be is a tremendous, tremendous relief," said Attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, who represented Collins.
It started as a battle over property and money as Collins and Grant tried to divide their assets and end their 27-year marriage. Then in public documents, Grant said she was worried that girls Collins allegedly molested decades ago could sue, and then take Collins' money and hers, too.
An audio recording in which Collins acknowledged inappropriate conduct with three underage girls was leaked to the media.
Warning: the above video contains explicit language.
The release of the recording was followed by an exclusive interview with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric.
"She and I were watching TV alone together. I knew that something unthinkably wrong had just happened," Collins told Couric.
Collins says therapy and religious counseling changed him. No criminal or civil case against him has been filed. But the tape, secretly recorded by Grant, became central in settlement talks.
Collins became a pariah in Hollywood. Work dried up. Collins' lawyer, Kaplan, blamed Grant for failing to safeguard the recording, which scandalized Collins. Court papers said Grant left a CD copy of the recording with the words "Stephen Collins/predator" in a trash bag at the driveway of her house.
Grant denied any role in leaking the tape.
Meanwhile, Kaplan said all the issues regarding the tape were resolved in court, but that the details are very complicated. Neither party was ordered to pay spousal support, and each party was awarded one-half of all furniture and furnishings.
