Frail Phil Collins, 69, is seen arriving at a Genesis reunion rehearsal after accusing ex-wife of trying to 'extort' him after she mocked his personal hygiene and sexual performance
Phil Collins was seen attending a Genesis rehearsal on Thursday as he was pictured for the first time since accusing his ex-wife of trying to 'extort him'.
The drummer, 69, who is being replaced by his son 19-year-old son Nicholas on the upcoming tour, still ensured he attended a rehearsal with the band as he arrived at a recording studio in Surrey.
Collins was pushed in a wheelchair by a male companion and held a cane in his hand after suffering nerve damage to his back while performing over the years.
Out and about: Phil Collins was seen arriving for a Genesis rehearsal on Thursday as he was pictured for the first time since accusing his ex-wife of trying to 'extort him'
Collins' health has been deteriorating since 2009 when he injured a vertebrae in his upper neck while performing.
Two years later he was forced to retire after the nerve damage left him unable to play the drums.
The In the Air Tonight hitmaker was wearing a blue polo shirt and a navy quarter zip for the outing, while also sporting a baseball cap and glasses.
The group, which formed in 1967 and whose hits include Land of Confusion and I Can't Dance, are slated to kick off their Last Domino? tour on April 1 after having to push back their November start date due to coronavirus.
The rehearsal will no doubt be a welcome distraction for Phil at the moment as he is currently locked in a bitter eviction battle with his ex-wife Orianne Cevey.
In dueling court filings obtained by DailyMail.com, Collins accused his ex-wife of trying to 'extort' him and demanded a judge hit her with sanctions after she mocked his personal hygiene and sexual performance.
Committed: The drummer, 69, who is being replaced by his son 19-year-old son Nicholas on the upcoming tour, still ensured he attended a rehearsal with the band
Collins and former flame Orianne have been warring for weeks after she moved her new, younger husband Thomas Bates into the musician's palatial Florida mansion and refused to leave.
Relations hit a new low this week when Orianne, 46 - who claims she's entitled to half the $40m property under a 'verbal cohabitation agreement' - made a series of humiliating personal attacks on her ex in publicly available court documents.
Collins' lawyers hit back, branding it a 'scandalous and scurrilous' attempt to wreck his reputation and calling on a judge to strike the remarks from the record and hit their counterparts with extra legal fees.
At war: The rehearsal will no doubt be a welcome distraction for Phil at the moment as he is currently locked in a bitter eviction battle with his ex-wife Orianne Cevey
Claims: Cevey claimed that living with Collins was unbearable after he became a hermit and refused to shower for nearly a year from 2019-2020
The headline-grabbing spat appeared to have reached a truce last week when a 'partial settlement' was agreed in clear the air Zoom talks between Orianne, 31-year-old Bates and Collins, who is currently in London rehearsing for a Genesis reunion.
The arrangement gave jewelry designer Orianne, who has two sons with Collins, until January to pack her bags and leave while the seven-bed Miami Beach residence was put on the market.
Hostilities resumed, however, when Orianne submitted a fresh court filing Monday that portrayed Collins as a washed-up has-been who turned to booze and painkillers when his vocal ability 'diminished'.
The In the Air Tonight crooner was 'usually drunk by mid-morning', her attorneys alleged, to the point that Collins would fall over and injure himself before checking into the hospital under an alias.
'By 2019 Philip had lost his talents. He became increasingly depressed, withdrawn and abusive and, following an operation his back, increasingly addicted to anti-depressants and painkillers,' her filing stated.
'As Philip's binge drinking and resulting injuries from falling became worse his mental state, likewise, deteriorated.
'By 2019, he was incapable of having sex. He stopped showering, brushing his teeth and dressing properly (in fact he did not shower or brush his teeth from 2019 until August 2020 when he vacated the property).'
Collins began to smell and his 'stench became so pervasive that he became a hermit, refusing to interact personally with any people', the document went on to allege.
'He was either incapable or he refused to provide emotional support, love or care for his children or Orianne,' her attorneys wrote, listing their claims under mock song titles including 'Not Another Day in Paradise' and 'Philip … Sue Sue Sideos'.
According to her filing, 'By August 2020, Philip had withdrew from society, and via text to Orianne, he said that he was moving to Switzerland, stating, “I am sure the children will understand” and that he will remain there at least through the end of the year, if not permanently.'
The filing provoked an immediate rebuttal from the Collins camp, who described it as 'a litany of demonstrably false, immaterial, impertinent, scandalous and scurrilous allegations which have nothing to do with the legal claims in this case.'
'These allegations are included only to further defendants' plan to deliberately make sensationalized and/or false allegations in an effort to extort money,' they wrote in a motion to strike obtained by DailyMail.com.
Together: The pair married in 1999 and had two sons, Nicholas, 19, and Matthew, 15, before splitting seven years later then getting back together in 2016
Documents: These documents filed by Orianne claim Collins lost his talents by 2019. 'He became increasingly depressed, withdrawn and abusive and, following an operation his back, increasingly addicted to anti-depressants and painkillers,' the filing states. Collins' lawyers are calling on a judge to strike the remarks from the record and hit Cevey with extra legal fees
They urged Miami Dade Circuit Court Judge Spencer Eig to bar similar allegations and hit their counterparts with an award of fees sanction for making arguments in 'bad faith'.
'The court should order them stricken and then order that there will be no discovery on these topics because they are plainly not relevant,' the motion says.
'To be clear, these false and scandalous allegations are included only so that they can be delivered by defendants to the media to try to damage Phil Collins' reputation.'
Collins launched his drastic legal action earlier this month ago after calling it quits with Orianne for the second time. The pair married in 1999 and had sons Nicholas, 19, and Matthew, 15, before splitting seven years later.
Despite agreeing to a record $47m divorce settlement they surprised the world in 2016 when they announced they were back together and living in the Miami home, which Collins purchased through an LLC.
However the relationship ended, seemingly for good, when he discovered Orianne had 'secretly' married Bates in Las Vegas on August 2.
According to court filings, the Against All Odds crooner left in a hurry for Switzerland and gave the couple until October 12 to pack their bags and move so he could put the plush property up for sale.
When they failed to leave, Collins sued Orianne for unlawful detainer and forcible entry, accusing the pair of hiring armed guards, covering over security cameras and changing alarm codes to seize the house 'by a show of force.'
The newlyweds hit back with their own filing, dismissing the allegations as 'nothing more than a retaliation' to the new marriage and a 'shameful story' that Collins had 'fabricated'.
Orianne argues that she surrendered a $20m stake in her previous Miami home by getting a 'quickie divorce' from her previous husband, Charles Mejjati.
She picked out and jointly furnished the waterfront mansion, paid her share of the bills for five years and had an 'oral co-habitation agreement' with Collins that entitled her and their two sons to be there, according to her filing.
'Verbal agreement': Despite splitting from Collins and remarrying, jewelry designer Orianne, 46, claimed the mansion is just as much her home as his under a 'verbal cohabitation agreement' and wanted $20m to leave
Wow! In a series of Instagram posts this week she showed off her latest purchase, a brand new $160,000 Bentley Bentayga - her third Bentley
Orianne also claims to have informed Collins about her marriage to Bates after making multiple attempts to talk about their 'deteriorating relationship' which she maintains he was unwilling to address.
The mother-of-three admits covering over security cameras but alleges that this was because Collins had 20 secret devices installed around the $12,000 sq ft residence to spy on her, including in her bathroom and changing room.
Orianne further insists that having to leave the house would be especially unfair on her youngest son - a nine-year-old referred to in court documents only as A.A. - with whom she shares custody with Miami-based Mejjati.
In a series of Instagram posts this week she showed off her latest purchase, a brand new $160,000 Bentley Bentayga - her third Bentley.
'I work hard every day for what I have,' she wrote.' Despite the haters who only throw sh*t at me without knowing the truth.'
Opinion: Orianne argues that she surrendered a $20m stake in her previous Miami home by getting a 'quickie divorce' from her previous husband
