Tricia Walsh-Smith
Encyclopedia
Tricia Walsh-Smith is a British playwright and actress born in 1956. According to the Mirror, "She has more front than Brighton Pier and self-belief by the truckload." Although "few people had heard of her before", in April 2008 she attracted international attention for posting a YouTube
video of herself discussing her divorce from her husband Philip Smith, president of The Shubert Organization
. In the video she explained that she was going to be unfairly evicted from her house and also described allegedly embarrassing personal details of Smith's life. While The Telegraph
called her "only the latest in a long line of people who have used the web in an attempt to get even", some legal experts consider this the first known case where a spouse has used YouTube in attempt to gain leverage over the other in a divorce case.
Walsh-Smith's case has generated scrutiny and debate by legal and psychology experts on the implications of broadcasting personal issues using media like YouTube. Renowned psychologist Keith Ablow
said, “We’re at a critical moment where people are turning to public broadcasts to express private thoughts. But I don’t think it’s connecting people necessarily. I think it’s disconnecting them from their own life stories.” As for the legal implications in Walsh's divorce case, MSNBC
's senior legal analyst Susan Filan told the show, "A judge isn’t really going to care. In the end, a divorce, as upsetting and emotional as it is, is just a financial transaction. You’re doing backwards math. You’re trying to make one household go into two. Somebody’s going to have to give something to somebody else.”
Walsh-Smith has appeared on CBS
's The Insider
numerous times as well as on Good Morning America
, ABC Television
, Inside Edition
, Fox News Channel
's Geraldo
and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.
Fox News named the initial video one of "The Top 5 Viral Videos of 2008."
, Germany, Walsh-Smith was part of a military family which traveled the world until her RAF father's death, when she settled briefly in her mother's hometown of Beverley, East Yorkshire
. Walsh-Smith attended the Italia Conti Academy
and began appearing in commercials, most notably for Hellmann's Mayonnaise
. Later she acted in the British horror film, Terror, Kenny Everett Video Show
, the sitcom Constant Hot Water, the 1986 drama, The Best Years of Your Life, and the children's television drama, Grange Hill
.
She met her first husband in 1981, with whom she had a son. She had a brief second marriage to American businessman Jerald Arnold.
She met her third husband, Philip Smith, at a Park Avenue
wedding reception in 1995. The two married in New York City
in 1999. A divorce occurred at Philip Smith's request in July 2008.
, on the Dick Emery
Show and has written the play Bonkers which premiered in London
in 1987.
In December 2008 Walsh-Smith released the song "I'm Going Bonkers" on iTunes
. Its video featured her in bondage gear and dancing around London. The video went viral and quickly became YouTube's number one entertainment video.
Tricia's play, Addictions, has been used at a number of benefit readings to raise awareness and generate charitable giving for addicts. In 2007 she cancelled one production of the play after learning that Smirnoff
Vodka
had become a sponsor. She explained: "I was absolutely stunned. I couldn't believe it. The idea of having Smirnoff sponsoring this play, which is about addiction - what were they thinking? ... If we had gone ahead, I would have been looked at as a total hypocrite." The reading of her play, The Last Journey, broke box office records at Westport Country Playhouse, Connecticut. She has now teamed up with composer Simon Kay and written two musicals, Change the Day, and Arm Candy, the latter being a musical on the woes of divorce. She has previewed much of the material from Arm Candy at some of London's premier nightclubs and more recently at the 02 Arena. Some of the songs were featured in the 12-part television series "Pineapple Dance Studios
", which aired in 2010 on Sky1 in the UK and has been sold globally. In 2011 she appeared in "Louie Spence's Showbusiness
", also on Sky1. She claimed in the Mirror that, in fact, she saved the show from poor ratings and was necessary for the show's success despite Spence and the other stars strongly disliking her. For this series she made two music videos: "Stuff Ding Dong Merrily On High!", for the Christmas Special; and "Should I Go In The Jungle?", which was reportedly a tongue in cheek lampooning of the ITV1 series, "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". She was also followed in the process of putting together a presentation of her musical, Change The Day. As well as her musicals, plays and music videos, she has completed her first novel, The Devil's Hostage. In 2011 she revealed that she wanted her own television show and was pitching a show called The Ex-Wives Club to "help" women who got "screwed" in divorces.
Judge Beeler also ruled that the prenuptial agreement, signed three weeks before the couple's 1999 wedding, was valid. Per that agreement, Walsh-Smith must leave the Park Avenue apartment the couple shared within 30 days and that Philip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway, must pay her $750,000.
Walsh-Smith left the Manhattan apartment on 6 July, having received the $750,000 payment at the threshold. Her attorneys were granted leave to appeal 11 August 2008, and an appeal was filed 5 June 2009, within the statutory time limit.The "arguments" were heard in Manhattan's Supreme court on 29 September 2009.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video of herself discussing her divorce from her husband Philip Smith, president of The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of legitimate theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam S. Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York in the late 19th century in upstate New York,...
. In the video she explained that she was going to be unfairly evicted from her house and also described allegedly embarrassing personal details of Smith's life. While The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
called her "only the latest in a long line of people who have used the web in an attempt to get even", some legal experts consider this the first known case where a spouse has used YouTube in attempt to gain leverage over the other in a divorce case.
Walsh-Smith's case has generated scrutiny and debate by legal and psychology experts on the implications of broadcasting personal issues using media like YouTube. Renowned psychologist Keith Ablow
Keith Ablow
Keith Russell Ablow is an American psychiatrist, New York Times best-selling author, and television personality who now serves as a Fox News contributor on psychiatry, while maintaining private practices in Newburyport, Massachusetts and Manhattan, New York.-Early life and training:Ablow was born...
said, “We’re at a critical moment where people are turning to public broadcasts to express private thoughts. But I don’t think it’s connecting people necessarily. I think it’s disconnecting them from their own life stories.” As for the legal implications in Walsh's divorce case, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's senior legal analyst Susan Filan told the show, "A judge isn’t really going to care. In the end, a divorce, as upsetting and emotional as it is, is just a financial transaction. You’re doing backwards math. You’re trying to make one household go into two. Somebody’s going to have to give something to somebody else.”
Walsh-Smith has appeared on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
numerous times as well as on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
, Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
's Geraldo
Geraldo (TV series)
Geraldo is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Geraldo Rivera that aired in syndication from September 7, 1987, to June 12, 1998. On the last two seasons, it was known as The Geraldo Rivera Show. Both titles were produced by Investigative News Group in association with Tribune...
and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.
Fox News named the initial video one of "The Top 5 Viral Videos of 2008."
Early life
Born in RAF GüterslohRAF Gütersloh
The former Royal Air Force Station Gütersloh, more commonly known as RAF Gütersloh, was a Royal Air Force Germany military airbase, the nearest Royal Air Force airbase to the East/West German border, in the vicinity of the town of Gütersloh. It was constructed by the Germans prior to World War II...
, Germany, Walsh-Smith was part of a military family which traveled the world until her RAF father's death, when she settled briefly in her mother's hometown of Beverley, East Yorkshire
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...
. Walsh-Smith attended the Italia Conti Academy
Italia Conti Academy
The Italia Conti Academy is a theatre arts training school based in London. It was founded in 1911 by actress Italia Conti...
and began appearing in commercials, most notably for Hellmann's Mayonnaise
Hellmann's and Best Foods
Hellmann's and Best Foods are brand names that are used for the same line of mayonnaise and other food products. The Hellmann's brand is sold in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and also in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Canada...
. Later she acted in the British horror film, Terror, Kenny Everett Video Show
Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio DJ and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.-Early life:...
, the sitcom Constant Hot Water, the 1986 drama, The Best Years of Your Life, and the children's television drama, Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
.
She met her first husband in 1981, with whom she had a son. She had a brief second marriage to American businessman Jerald Arnold.
She met her third husband, Philip Smith, at a Park Avenue
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
wedding reception in 1995. The two married in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1999. A divorce occurred at Philip Smith's request in July 2008.
Professional career
Previously, Walsh-Smith appeared in over five hundred commercials on British and European television, most notably for Hellmann's MayonnaiseHellmann's and Best Foods
Hellmann's and Best Foods are brand names that are used for the same line of mayonnaise and other food products. The Hellmann's brand is sold in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and also in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Canada...
, on the Dick Emery
Dick Emery
Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
Show and has written the play Bonkers which premiered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1987.
In December 2008 Walsh-Smith released the song "I'm Going Bonkers" on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. Its video featured her in bondage gear and dancing around London. The video went viral and quickly became YouTube's number one entertainment video.
Tricia's play, Addictions, has been used at a number of benefit readings to raise awareness and generate charitable giving for addicts. In 2007 she cancelled one production of the play after learning that Smirnoff
Smirnoff
Smirnoff is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov , the son of illiterate Russian peasants. It is now distributed in 130 countries.Smirnoff products include vodka, flavored...
Vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
had become a sponsor. She explained: "I was absolutely stunned. I couldn't believe it. The idea of having Smirnoff sponsoring this play, which is about addiction - what were they thinking? ... If we had gone ahead, I would have been looked at as a total hypocrite." The reading of her play, The Last Journey, broke box office records at Westport Country Playhouse, Connecticut. She has now teamed up with composer Simon Kay and written two musicals, Change the Day, and Arm Candy, the latter being a musical on the woes of divorce. She has previewed much of the material from Arm Candy at some of London's premier nightclubs and more recently at the 02 Arena. Some of the songs were featured in the 12-part television series "Pineapple Dance Studios
Pineapple Dance Studios (TV series)
Pineapple Dance Studios is a docusoap which aired on Sky1 during 2010. The show gave viewers an insight into the world of Pineapple Dance Studios, a London dance complex, and introduced several employees including Louie Spence and Andrew Stone. The show was first broadcast on 14 February 2010 on...
", which aired in 2010 on Sky1 in the UK and has been sold globally. In 2011 she appeared in "Louie Spence's Showbusiness
Louie Spence's Showbusiness
Louie Spence's Showbusiness is a docusoap that is the follow-up series to Pineapple Dance Studios. It was announced by Louie Spence on Alan Carr: Chatty Man on 9 July 2010 and he stated that the series would be "the same, but bigger; if that's possible." It has a similar format to its predecessor...
", also on Sky1. She claimed in the Mirror that, in fact, she saved the show from poor ratings and was necessary for the show's success despite Spence and the other stars strongly disliking her. For this series she made two music videos: "Stuff Ding Dong Merrily On High!", for the Christmas Special; and "Should I Go In The Jungle?", which was reportedly a tongue in cheek lampooning of the ITV1 series, "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!". She was also followed in the process of putting together a presentation of her musical, Change The Day. As well as her musicals, plays and music videos, she has completed her first novel, The Devil's Hostage. In 2011 she revealed that she wanted her own television show and was pitching a show called The Ex-Wives Club to "help" women who got "screwed" in divorces.
Divorce Granted
On 21 July 2008 a Manhattan judge awarded Philip Smith a divorce from Tricia Walsh-Smith. The Judge, Harold Beeler, blasted Walsh-Smith for her YouTube video stunt, which he called "a calculated and callous campaign to embarrass and humiliate her husband" and to pressure him into settling the divorce case on more favorable terms than were stated in their prenuptial agreement. "She has attempted to turn the life of her husband into a soap opera by directing, writing, acting in and producing a melodrama," the judge said.Judge Beeler also ruled that the prenuptial agreement, signed three weeks before the couple's 1999 wedding, was valid. Per that agreement, Walsh-Smith must leave the Park Avenue apartment the couple shared within 30 days and that Philip Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, the largest theater owner on Broadway, must pay her $750,000.
Walsh-Smith left the Manhattan apartment on 6 July, having received the $750,000 payment at the threshold. Her attorneys were granted leave to appeal 11 August 2008, and an appeal was filed 5 June 2009, within the statutory time limit.The "arguments" were heard in Manhattan's Supreme court on 29 September 2009.