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Apr 16, 2008 11:58 pm US/Eastern
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YouTube Divorce Video Causes Internet Stir
Woman's 6-Minute Clip Opens Door To Serious Questions
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
When it comes to pain and suffering, going through a divorce is right up there, and now a former actress is using YouTube to take it to a whole new level.
Divorce is painful enough, but imagine hundreds of thousands of strangers knowing all the intimate details of your relationship.
It's the new weapon in divorce wars.
There's not much that gets nastier than a divorce, and now a former actress is taking it to a whole new level.
"So my husband is 25 years older than me and his daughters are around my age so I signed a pre-nup," Tricia Walsh-Smith says in her YouTube video.
For more than six minutes Walsh-Smith goes into the "intimate details" of her marriage to 75-year-old Phillip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization -- the largest theater owner on Broadway.
"He has no grounds for divorce but he's still trying to throw me out of the apartment in 30 days and I don't know why," Walsh-Smith says.
She gives a tour of the apartment, and picks out relatives she doesn't like in her wedding album.
"She's a bad, bad, bad person," Walsh-Smith says.
She posted the video six days ago, and it's been viewed more than 1 million times.
"I think that's absolutely exhibitionist, attention-getting sadness," said Digna Rodriguez-Poulton of Mahway, N.J.
Added Peter Gardiner of Scotland: "It's a free country, free speech, why not?"
Bonnie Rabin has been a family law attorney for more than 20 years and this is the first time she's seen such a thing. Her concern is that people will use the tactic for all sorts of cases.
"For example, if you had a custody case involving children," Rabin said. "When people think they are being treated unfairly or they're concerned about they're not being heard it wouldn't be that unusual for someone to say if I can't be heard by a court of law then I can be heard by a court of public opinion."
While Philip Smith wouldn't go on camera, his lawyer says his client is very disappointed with his wife's video, and considers their divorce a private matter.
Chances are Walsh-Smith has a lot more to share as the video ends with her saying stay tuned.
As far as how the video will affect the divorce proceedings, Rabin says technically it shouldn't be a factor, but it may help her lawyers figure out their strategy.
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