Padma Lakshmi told the father of her child that she desperately hoped her other lover would prove to be the biological parent, according to court papers. Adam Dell - the brother of Dell computer firm founder Michael Dell - is battling the Top Chef beauty for full custody of their 11-month-old daughter Krishna Thea.
Dell, 40, claims the former supermodel launched a cruel attack on him during a phone call in September 2009, calling him an 'unambitious' man with an 'uninteresting' career and 'unmemorable' friends. He says she then dropped another bombshell - telling him she was pregnant and she desperately hoped it was not his.
Dell's court papers say that Lakshmi told him she was at the same time sleeping with another billionaire, 70-year-old IMG boss Ted Forstmann, and that she hoped Dell was nothing to do with the pregnancy. '[Lakshmi] made clear to [Dell] her hope that Forstmann was the child's biological father,' according to the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. He claims this was the reason she refused to put his name on the birth certificate - 'to minimize, if not eliminate [Dell's] role in Krishna's life and to install Forstmann as Krishna's father.'
Dell is suing for full custody, claiming Lakshmi has limited his time with the 11-month-old. Sources say he now gets only seven hours a week with her. The suit claims that 'Forstmann has declared that [Lakshmi], Krishna and he are a "family" and they wished [Dell] would f***ing disappear.' The explosive 16-page complaint accuses Lakshmi, the 40-year-old ex-wife of author Salman Rushdie, of cutting Dell out of Krishna's life, and teaching the baby to refer to Forstmann as 'Papa.'
'I've never seen a father so devoted to being a good father to his child,' said William Zabel, a lawyer for Dell. 'She is trying to have her boyfriend take the role of father and that's just wrong.' Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell said of his brother: 'Adam is a loving and devoted father who only wants the best for his little girl. He was opposed to going to court because he wanted to protect Krishna from a public legal battle and held out hope that Padma would give Adam greater access.
Lakshmi’s lawyer Silverstein, called Dell's suit 'inaccurate and misleading’, while a Forstmann spokesperson declined to comment, but a source close to him said: 'He has been carrying out the role of father since the moment Krishna was delivered into his arms.'
Dell, 40, claims the former supermodel launched a cruel attack on him during a phone call in September 2009, calling him an 'unambitious' man with an 'uninteresting' career and 'unmemorable' friends. He says she then dropped another bombshell - telling him she was pregnant and she desperately hoped it was not his.
Dell's court papers say that Lakshmi told him she was at the same time sleeping with another billionaire, 70-year-old IMG boss Ted Forstmann, and that she hoped Dell was nothing to do with the pregnancy. '[Lakshmi] made clear to [Dell] her hope that Forstmann was the child's biological father,' according to the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. He claims this was the reason she refused to put his name on the birth certificate - 'to minimize, if not eliminate [Dell's] role in Krishna's life and to install Forstmann as Krishna's father.'
Dell is suing for full custody, claiming Lakshmi has limited his time with the 11-month-old. Sources say he now gets only seven hours a week with her. The suit claims that 'Forstmann has declared that [Lakshmi], Krishna and he are a "family" and they wished [Dell] would f***ing disappear.' The explosive 16-page complaint accuses Lakshmi, the 40-year-old ex-wife of author Salman Rushdie, of cutting Dell out of Krishna's life, and teaching the baby to refer to Forstmann as 'Papa.'
'I've never seen a father so devoted to being a good father to his child,' said William Zabel, a lawyer for Dell. 'She is trying to have her boyfriend take the role of father and that's just wrong.' Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell said of his brother: 'Adam is a loving and devoted father who only wants the best for his little girl. He was opposed to going to court because he wanted to protect Krishna from a public legal battle and held out hope that Padma would give Adam greater access.
Lakshmi’s lawyer Silverstein, called Dell's suit 'inaccurate and misleading’, while a Forstmann spokesperson declined to comment, but a source close to him said: 'He has been carrying out the role of father since the moment Krishna was delivered into his arms.'
