Why Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Are Clashing over His “Magic Mike” Profits 6 Years After Split
The exes, who filed for divorce in 2018, are headed to trial as dividing his 'Magic Mike' earnings becomes an issue
Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum are at odds over divvying up Magic Mike earnings nearly six years after their breakup.
In recent court filings, the exes called on each other and more to testify as witnesses in their ongoing divorce proceedings, with a new sticking point involving profits from the Magic Mike movies, which Dewan's lawyers describe as Tatum's "big break."
Magic Mike, and the film's eventual "extremely lucrative" offshoots, were "developed and co-financed by Channing during marriage with community effort and marital funds," her side argues.
Since the original Magic Mike, which Tatum starred in and produced, debuted in theaters in 2012, sequels came out in 2015 and 2023. In addition, a spin-off reality TV series aired in 2021, and a popular live Magic Mike attraction has been staged in Las Vegas.
Dewan, 43, alleges that Tatum, 43, and his associates "created a complex web of LLCs, holding companies, and partnerships" as a way to "dilute and conceal the value of, and licensing income therefrom, the community property share of Magic Mike intellectual property."
Asking for a separate trial to figure out how to accurately divide assets in their divorce, Dewan's legal team said they aim to prove Tatum allegedly "colluded" to "shelter" Magic Mike income from her.
Tatum adamantly disputes this in his filings, saying he "never denied Petitioner of her share of the community assets or income."
In response to Dewan's filing, Tatum's lawyers lamented that they have yet to reach a divorce settlement after five years and they need to schedule it for trial without a "last-minute" postponement.
They say Tatum has "exhausted all efforts in an attempt to settle this matter without litigation."
Related: Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan's Relationship Timeline
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
While his Magic Mike enterprise began during their marriage, Tatum's lawyers say he "continued to create and develop [it] since separation." He "expended extensive efforts since separation towards the enhancement of the Magic Mike intellectual property and related entities, which [Tatum] contends give rise to his separate property interest therein."
After meeting as costars on the 2006 dance film Step Up, Tatum and Dewan married on July 11, 2009. The pair, who share daughter Everly (11 years old next month), announced their breakup in April 2018, but, according to Tatum's latest court filing, they "privately separated months prior." The divorce filing officially came in October 2018.
Tatum has since moved on with fiancée Zoë Kravitz, and Dewan is engaged to Steve Kazee, with whom she shares son Callum, 4, and is currently expecting another baby.
In 2023, Tatum reflected on his split from Dewan, telling Vanity Fair they "fought for" their marriage "for a really long time, even though we both sort of knew that we had sort of grown apart."
He added at the time, "I think we told ourselves a story when we were young, and we just kept telling ourselves that story, no matter how blatantly life was telling us that we were so different."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.