Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Jennifer Tilly was awarded a hefty cut of her ex-husband’s residuals for The Simpsons, a six-figure lump sum and the majority of her acting residuals, In Touch can exclusively report.
In Touch obtained the December 30, 1993, divorce judgment signed by Jennifer, 66, and her ex-husband, Sam Simon. Sam co-developed the hit animation show The Simpsons with Matt Groening and James L.Brooks, which launched in 1989.
Jennifer was married to Sam from 1984 to 1991. Despite the split, the two remained close friends until his death in 2015 at the age of 59.
In court documents, Jennifer and Sam cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the marriage ending. The actress was the one who filed the initial petition on August 28, 1992.
Per their settlement, Jennifer walked away with her jewelry, clothing and all personal items. She was awarded her salary and rights resulting from her acting services rendered before and after the marriage.
Sam kept his jewelry, clothing and personal effects. He also kept real property located in San Luis Obispo, California, another property in Santa Monica, California and a third property in Pacific Palisades, California.
He also kept a portion of his pension plan worth $50,000, certain residuals he earned from before the marriage and several bank accounts. Regarding community property, Jennifer was awarded several bank accounts, the other half of Sam’s pension plan, all rights to a production company and any rights to her SAG or AFTRA pension plan.
Sam agreed to pay Jennifer one half of any and all residuals and other deferred compensation from his producing or writing services during a specific time period in the marriage. Jennifer and Sam were instructed to spit up household furniture, a 1989 Mercedes Benz and a 1987 Mercedes Benz.
The court also found that Jennifer had an interest in Sam’s “Fox Payments,” which were his payments for his work on The Simpsons. Essentially, Jennifer was paid at least 25 percent of income that Sam made from each episode or any payment for films made related to The Simpsons.
Sam paid the taxes and his representatives before Jennifer received her portion. The deal even said if The Simpson was syndicated, Jennifer was to get a portion of that income.
On top of that, Jennifer was paid a $400,000 one-time lump sum from Sam in the divorce deal. Sam also agreed to pay off several credit cards and the home loans without Jennifer’s help.
Jennifer agreed to pay off her Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Chase, American Express and Nordstrom credit cards.
Following Sam’s death in 2015, Jennifer filed documents in court to make sure her payments from The Simpsons continued to be paid out. The actress explained Sam had paid her directly from his income every month until his death.
Her lawyer explained at the time, “Because of Sam’s death, it is no longer practical for Jennifer, Sam, [and his company] to follow the procedure that she had been following with Sam and [his company] since 1993. Jennifer, Sam’s estate, Sam’s Trust and [Sam’s company] have negotiated a new and different procedure for the payment of Jennifer’s percentage community property interest in the Fox Payments, which is intended to place Jennifer in substantially the same economic position that she would be in if she had received her percentage of the Fox Payments directly from Fox and had reported the income on her income tax returns and paid the tax thereon.”
In a declaration, Jennifer explained, “During Sam’s lifetime, that is the procedure that was followed. He received 100 percent of the Net Proceeds through [his company].” She continued, “He paid all of the taxes. He gave me a net after-tax payment equal to my percentage of the net after-tax amount of the Net Proceeds. Since Sam already had paid tax on 100 percent of the Net Proceeds pursuant to Internal Revenue Code section 1041, I did not pay taxes on the amounts that he paid to me.”
Jennifer said Sam made a plan before his death to make sure she was taken care of once he passed. The actress said Sam knew the way she was being paid her cut of The Simpsons could not continue after he died.
She said, “My understanding is that, knowing this, Sam made changes in anticipation of his death. He executed a beneficiary designation directing that I receive the same percentage of the Net Proceeds that I had been receiving during his lifetime. He executed another beneficiary designation, directing that the Sam Simon Charitable Giving Foundation receive the remainder of the Net proceeds.”
The issue was resolved within a matter of months.
