What is Oksana Grigorieva's net worth?
Oksana Grigorieva is a singer-songwriter and pianist from Russia who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Oksana Grigorieva is primarily known for her highly publicized relationship with actor Mel Gibson, with whom she had a daughter in 2009. Their subsequent breakup in 2010 became a major media story due to leaked recordings of phone conversations and legal disputes.
Before this controversy, Grigorieva had pursued a career as a musician and singer-songwriter. Born in Russia, she studied music at the Royal College of Music in London and moved to the United States in the 1990s. She released an album titled "Beautiful Heartache" in 2009, which was produced by Gibson's music company Icon Records. The album featured a mix of pop and classical influences.
She has also worked as a pianist and songwriter, having composed music for theater productions and written songs for various artists. Prior to her relationship with Gibson, she was briefly married to Timothy Dalton, with whom she has a son.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Oksana Grigorieva was born in 1970 in Saransk, Mordovia in Soviet Russia. Her parents, both music professors, raised her in Russia as well as in Ukraine. At the age of 15, Grigorieva moved to Moscow to go to college and study piano. After finishing both her studies in Moscow and her conservatory tenure in Kazan, Grigorieva moved to London to continue her studies at the Royal Academy of Music. While there, she worked for a time as a model under the name Sacha Chernuha. Following this, she relocated to the United States, where she spent time living in New York City and Los Angeles. Grigorieva went on to teach music in the US, and patented a technique for teaching musical notation to kids. Additionally, she composed and performed music, and did some work for theater and advertisements.
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Music Career Breakthrough
Grigorieva first attracted widespread recognition for her music in 2006, when she wrote the song "Un día llegará" for the Josh Groban album "Awake." The song achieved a great deal of popularity among critics and audiences, with many singling out its flamenco flavor. In 2007, Grigorieva performed the track at a live performance.
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"Beautiful Heartache"
In 2009, Grigorieva released her debut album, entitled "Beautiful Heartache." It was released through Mel Gibson's music label, Icon Entertainment, with Gibson also serving as executive producer. Grigorieva wrote almost all of the album's 11 songs, with Gibson contributing lyrics to various tracks, including the single "Say My Name." Additionally, Gibson directed four music videos accompanying the album's release, all of which were filmed over a week-long period in Mexico. Among the album's tracks are "Angel," "Evening With Daddy," "Back From Russia," "Ain't Right," and a cover of the song "Dark Eyes (Ochi Chernye)."
"Beautiful Heartache" drew strong reviews from critics, who praised the album's mix of jazz and pop arrangements and Grigorieva's emotional vocals. The lead single, "Say My Name," went on to be included in the 2010 action film "Edge of Darkness."
Personal Life and Legal Battles
In 1989, Grigorieva was married to Russian lawyer Igor Baranov for three months. A few years later, she had another short-lived marriage to British artist Nicholas Rowland. Subsequently, in 1995, Grigorieva met actor Timothy Dalton while she was working as a translator for filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. The couple had a son named Alexander in 1997. They separated in 2003. Oksana also receives roughly $3,550 a month in child support from Timothy Dalton for their son.
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Mel Gibson Relationship
Grigorieva began a relationship with actor and director Mel Gibson in 2007. They had a daughter, Lucia, in 2009. They broke up in 2010.
In June 2010, Grigorieva obtained a restraining order against Gibson on the grounds that he allegedly physically assaulted her.
A recording of an altercation between Gibson and Grigorieva went public, revealing what Grigorieva claimed to be a life-threatening situation between her and Gibson. Prior to the tape going public, the two reportedly reached a settlement that determined that Gibson would pay Grigorieva $15 million to keep quiet. But Grigorieva had other ideas.
She allowed the tape to go public in hopes that it would allow her to get more money from Gibson because of his abuse toward her. She was also hoping he'd have less unsupervised time with their daughter. At the time, Gibson claimed that the tape had been edited to exaggerate the situation. He claimed she was attempting to extort him for the cash.
After dropping her claims of domestic abuse in 2011, she settled with Gibson. As a result, she was awarded $750,000, joint legal custody, $20,000 per month in support, and a residence in Sherman Oaks, California, where she could live with her daughter until she turns 18.
Settlement & Loss of Settlement
According to the terms of their separation, Gibson agreed to pay Grigorieva the $750,000 settlement in three installments. For her part, she was contractually required to keep quiet about the alleged abuse. Gibson paid his first installment of $250,000. Unforuntately for Oksana, in August 2016, a court ruled that Gibson did not have to pay the second two payments ($500,000 in total) because Oksana violated the terms of the deal because of a conversation she had on the Howard Stern show in 2013.
In 2013, Okana went on the Howard Stern Show, and Howard brought the abuse up in conversation. He said, "Anyone who's been through what you've been through with [Gibson], you got to be full of hope, because it's the only way to be. You got to look ahead." She could have stopped it right there. Had she denied the validity of Stern's comment, she would have been fine. This, however, was reportedly her response:
"You know what? [Y]ou have to embrace your experience and even – it doesn't matter how painful it might be at the time, and that darker experience, learn from it, hopefully."
And with that one small comment, she nullified the settlement with Gibson and lost herself $500,000.
Bankruptcy
In 2014, Oksana declared bankruptcy, In her filing, she listed $440,000 worth of debt, of which $250,000 was legal debt incurred during her battle with Gibson. She claimed to have just $10 in cash to her name and $48,000 in assets.
