A lawyer for Uma Thurman’s baby daddy was forbidden Tuesday from asking the “Kill Bill” star about her drinking habits in court during an ongoing custody battle.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper cut off the line of questioning by attorney Peter Bronstein, who is representing Arpad Busson, a French financier to whom Thurman was briefly engaged.
The two are in the midst of a bitter custody battle over their 4-year-old daughter, Luna.
Thurman’s lawyer, Adam Wolff, objected to Bronstein asking Thurman about how much she drinks because Busson refused to answer similar questions for a court appointed psychologist.
Busson wrote “not relevant” on a questionnaire about his use of drugs and alcohol.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Cooper told Bronstein.
“I don’t see how it’s fair that you get permission to ask questions about this when your client stonewalled on this question.”
The judge said that in the two and a half years he’s had the case — initiated by Busson, who seeks more access to his daughter — nobody ever raised Thurman’s alcohol consumption as a problem.
“Does it have any effect on your ability to function?” Cooper asked Thurman.
“No, sir, it does not have any effect on my ability to function,” Thurman responded emphatically.
With that, Bronstein said he had no more questions, she returned to her seat and Busson took the stand.
Last week, the psychologist, Dr. Sara Weiss, said Thurman acknowledged taking several prescription drugs for anxiety, depression and difficulty sleeping. But Weiss said she found no significant psychological issues, only a bit of attention deficit disorder with the actress.
Weiss was “forthcoming” in her testimony about Thurman’s health, Cooper said.
“You used it against (Thurman),” he added. “Basically you have handicapped the other side.
“If you ask about alcohol, it gets spun in a way that’s bad for the child when she reads it” on the internet some day, Cooper said.
The judge noted that “half the people who come before me” take some of the drugs prescribed for Thurman and if that were evidence of wrongdoing, he argued, most of those parents would be denied custody and a lot more children would be “in foster care.”
Bronstein unsuccessfully argued that Thurman’s alcohol consumption is important in determining if she can handle having custody and making decisions for her youngest child.
Meanwhile, Busson told a judge he would be willing to buy a home in New York if he was granted more time with his daughter. He currently has homes in the Bahamas and London — destinations that weren’t convenient for the two-day visits he is currently allowed.
Last week, a court-appointed psychologist said Busson, a French citizen, was trying to spend as much time as possible with his daughter in London and the Bahamas because he would have to pay U.S. taxes if he spent more than 120 days in the states. He also has two adult sons with the model Elle Macpherson.
One of them, Flynn Busson, 18, testified on his father’s behalf Tuesday, saying that Luna had a close relationship with his family, including his younger brother Cy.
Thurman lawyer Eleanor Alter said Thurman preferred that Flynn not be crossed examined. Instead, the actress blew the college freshman a kiss across the room.
Earlier in the day, Busson said he and Thurman were engaged for almost 18 months. He gave her a $1.5 million ring that she still refuses to return, he said.
Busson said that Thurman had tried to get him to sign a contract regarding visitation rights around late 2011.
“She wanted me to have (access to the baby) as little as possible,” he said.
Busson testified at length about taking Luna to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she wanted to jump in the reflecting pool to retrieve coins, to a nature preserve in the Carolinas where she looked at alligators and to the Bahamas where they snorkeled for hours with sea turtles.
“She’s a great little dancer,” he said of his daughter.
It was the only time that Thurman, seated at the defense table, nodded and smiled.
