Last week, I was surprised to learn that Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan’s divorce has still not been finalized or settled. They ended up bifurcating their divorce so they’re both “legally single” right now (and engaged to other people), but they are still fighting about money. Specifically, the Magic Mike money. Channing has now starred in and produced three Magic Mike movies, and the whole franchise is based on his own experiences as a stripper in Florida. Beyond the film franchise, there are mega-lucrative offshoots like the Magic Mike Live shows in Vegas and London. While Channing isn’t going to become a billionaire from the Magic Mike intellectual property, he’s definitely made a significant amount of money from it. Jenna seems to be arguing that everything Magic Mike-related needs to be split in half, since he developed the first film during their marriage and put their “community money” into the project. Their money bickering has led to some back-and-forth briefings to People Magazine.
Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are entangled in an ongoing legal battle more than six years after announcing their split. The former couple is at odds over a financial settlement that includes profits from Tatum’s Magic Mike franchise, and they have both included each other on a “preliminary witness list” for a trial, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. The key issues that will be addressed, per the documents, are division of property, reimbursement claims, support, breach of fiduciary duty and attorneys’ fees.
“Jenna is just looking for a fair resolution of community assets of the marriage, under California State Law,” a rep for the actress tells PEOPLE. “Jenna wants to reach a final determination and close this chapter on her life as soon as possible.” The former couple has “been trying to settle for over five years and have gone to many settlement conferences during that time,” the rep adds.
A source close to Tatum maintains to PEOPLE the reason the legal battle has “dragged on is because Jenna’s actions and claims continuously contradict themselves.” The source adds, “She says she wants a fair settlement but is ignoring all post-separation work Channing and his partners have done to enhance Magic Mike. She keeps stalling negotiations, but says she wants to resolve this.”
In light of the filing, another insider tells PEOPLE that while Dewan, 43, has “clearly moved on, she’d like for all the doors to close and for her divorce to be finalized. She’s not dragging this on because she wants to or because she’s greedy,” the insider said. The source close to Tatum says the actor, also 43, “just wants to move on and wants [Dewan] to move on with her new life as well.”
Dewan is currently engaged to Steve Kazee, and the insider notes that she wants everything between her and Tatum “settled before she gets married again,” despite the fact that both she and Tatum were declared legally single by a judge in November 2019.
Per the filings (which People Mag summarizes), Jenna wants half of everything related to the Magic Mike IP and that’s their biggest and most significant argument. That’s largely why this issue is now going to trial – Jenna wants half of everything related to Magic Mike, even the Magic Mike stuff developed years after their separation. Jenna has also claimed that Channing has “collected one hundred percent of the profits” from Magic Mike after their separation. Oh, and Channing has Steven Soderbergh on his witness list – Soderbergh directed the first and third Magic Mike films and Soderbergh helped develop the IP. This is super-interesting to me! I can see why they’re going to trial and why they need someone neutral to figure out what’s fair and who owns what.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.