Celebs Play Hardball During Divorce, Custody Battles

Nov. 6, 2007 — -- Celebrities know how to play hardball — especially when it comes to divorce and custody battles.

From Alec Baldwin's bitter divorce from Kim Basinger, to Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's courtroom drama, Hollywood is no stranger to the marital woes of the rich and famous.

And the latest high-profile split to splash headlines — that of former Beatle Paul McCartney and his ex-wife Heather Mills — is, so far, proving to be just as nasty, just as manipulative and just as newsworthy as its predecessors.

Mills, who did the rounds on British and American talk shows earlier this month, told "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer that she has considered suicide because of the negative media attention — she said she has been called a "whore" — and that she fears for her safety.

Mills is asking McCartney for his U.K. estate, because, she says, the home's extra security will protect her and the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

But according to the U.K.'s News of the World, McCartney isn't going down without a fight.

He told the publication that if Mills fears so much for her life — as she has told the press several times — Beatrice will be safer with him. McCartney now seeks full custody of his daughter.

While several divorce lawyers told ABCNEWS.com that divorce proceedings can get ugly, whether you're famous or not, many agreed that the games celebrities play, when money and children are at stake, are truly eye-opening.

"Celebrity divorces are uglier, in the sense that the whole world is looking at them," said Raoul Felder, a New York-based celebrity divorce lawyer. "They have money to indulge in terms of paying lawyers and getting experts to come in. Celebrities are bottomless pits of money, combined oftentimes with limited IQs."

Embarrassing their one-time significant other, Felder told ABCNEWS.com, is a commonly used tactic by celebrities during their divorce proceedings.