EXCLUSIVE: Nicola Peltz to be grilled on camera in fired event planners Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba’s suit against her ‘bully’ father Nelson over her wedding to Brooklyn Beckham
- Nicola Peltz, 28, will be deposed in September in wedding planners Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba’s countersuit against father Nelson Peltz, 81
- The actress has argued in court filings that she’s not involved in the spat because it was her billionaire dad who hired the pair, only to ditch them eight days later
- Nelson first sued the two co-owners of Plan Design Events last year over the $159,000 deposit he put down for his daughter’s April 2022 wedding
Nicola Peltz Beckham faces a videotaped grilling in the bitter legal tussle between her billionaire father and her fired wedding planners, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Nelson Peltz, 81, is suing Nicole Braghin and Arianna Grijalba to get back the $159,000 deposit he put down on his daughter’s star-studded April 2022 wedding to Brooklyn Beckham.
The two co-owners of Miami-based Plan Design Events countersued for breach of contract, branding Nelson a ‘bully’ and insisting they worked flat out trying to cater to his family’s whims.
Nicola, 28, has argued in court filings that the spat is nothing to do with her because it was her mega-investor dad who hired the pair, only to ditch them eight days later.
But DailyMail.com can reveal that, despite her protests, the Transformers: Age of Extinction actress is scheduled to sit down for an on-camera deposition in a month’s time.
Nicola Peltz will be deposed next month in a countersuit against billionaire father Nelson Peltz related to her $3.5million wedding to Brooklyn Beckham in April 2022
Nelson Peltz first sued wedding planners Arianna Grijalba and Nicole Braghin last year to reclaim the $159,000 deposit he put down for his daughter’s nuptials. The women were hired in March 2022, six weeks before the wedding, only to be let go nine days later
The actress, 28 – pictured with husband Brooklyn in March – has argued in court filings that she’s not involved in the spat because it was her billionaire dad who hired the pair
She’ll be the first member of the Peltz family to have to answer on-the-record questions about the shock falling out that threatened to derail the $3.5million nuptials.
Nelson, who kicked off the legal fight in December last year, had a deposition scheduled for May but it was postponed while the two sides got together for an attempt at mediation.
His wife Claudia, 68, and Nicola are both listed as third-party defendants despite their lawyers filing motions to have them removed from the ‘malicious and mean-spirited’ counterclaim.
‘Aware that its claims are frivolous, PDE (Plan Design Events) shamefully attempts to falsely portray Nicola in an extremely negative light to entice the media and hopefully pressure Mr. Peltz to dismiss his well-founded claims against PDE,’ the Peltzes lawyers wrote in a June filing.
‘While this was tailor-made for the tabloids, it could not be further from the truth.’
Nelson’s suit accuses Braghin, 42, and Grijalba, 40, of attempting a ‘good old-fashioned shakedown’ and trying to bill for work they never carried out or were formally contracted to provide.
He argues they were simply ‘not up to the task’ of organizing the lavish, fairytale ceremony he envisaged for his daughter at the family’s sprawling Palm Beach estate.
The veteran planners came on board in February 2022, just six weeks before the 500-guest showpiece, taking over from Preston Bailey, an icon in the industry who previously planned Catherine Zeta-Jones’s wedding to Michael Douglas.
Despite her protests, she’s scheduled to sit for a video deposition in Los Angeles next month
Nelson’s wife Claudia, 68, and Nicola are both listed as third-party defendants despite their lawyers filing motions to have them removed
‘Peltz had presented them with the opportunity of a lifetime – to have their names associated with the wedding of two world-famous celebrities, which would undoubtedly propel PDE into wedding planning stardom,’ Nelson’s lawyers wrote.
‘In reality, however, it later became clear that [Braghin and Grijalba] viewed this as an opportunity to take advantage of Peltz by making material misrepresentations on both their website and in person regarding their experience, expertise, and capability of planning the wedding.’
Wedding planner #3: Michelle Rago got the job done in the end – but charged the Peltz family an escalated fee because of the tight turn-around
In their countersuit, Braghin and Grijalba claim the arrangements they inherited were shambolic, with multiple, competing guestlists and a bride-to-be allegedly ‘too busy’ to speak with them on the phone.
Travel arrangements had not been made and even the flowers and cake still needed to be sorted, along with hair and make-up artists, photographers and videographers, their suit contends.
And when the planners suggested a wedding band to Nicola she branded them ‘cheesy’ – and only wanted the lead singer, it’s claimed.
It was also clear, the pair allege, that the Peltzes did not want their famed in-laws, soccer legend David Beckham and his Spice Girl wife Victoria, to be aware of the last-minute glitches.
‘Both Claudia and Nicola had insisted that Victoria Beckham could not know about any internal mistakes regarding the ongoing planning of her son’s wedding, including any errors with the guest list’, the planners’ filing states.
During a meeting on March 1 last year, it adds: ‘Nelson said, in front of Braghin and Grijalba, that he wanted to ‘cancel the wedding’ and that it was ‘a s*** show’, but Claudia begged Nelson not to because it would ‘destroy Nicola’s career.’ ‘
Braghin and Grijalba, who say they spent 17 years building up their business, claim their firing came despite Nicola sending them a gushing text a day earlier, saying: ‘You’re killing it!’
Gorgeous: Nicola stunned in an incredible Valentino bridal gown as she posed for her wedding photos after marrying Brooklyn
Nicola Peltz with Brooklyn Beckham during their wedding weekend in Palm Beach in April 2022
The wedding took place at the Peltz’s 44,000 sq ft home in Palm Beach. Seen here is security and marquees for the celebration
The pair are also suing renowned wedding designer Rishi Patel, claiming the Peltzes brought him into the fold only for Patel to badmouth them behind their backs.
Nelson and Claudia kept Patel on but replaced them with his friend, Michelle Rago of Michelle Rago Destinations, Braghin and Grijalba claim.
Patel denies making ‘improper’ comments and has asked the court to dismiss him from the case, arguing the basis for his involvement is ‘vague and unsupported.’
In their most recent motion to dismiss, lawyers for Nicola and Claudia claim they never entered any sort of agreement with Plan Design Events and therefore couldn’t be liable for any money owed to the business.
‘Defendants’ strategy in this case is simple and transparent,’ their lawyers wrote on June 8.
‘In a desperate effort to distract from their own failure to accomplish anything of substance in the short time they purported to act as replacement wedding planners pursuant to an alleged written agreement with Mr. Peltz, and only Mr. Peltz, Defendant PDE filed a salacious, meritless and legally deficient third-party complaint against Mr. Peltz’s daughter, Nicola, and wife, Claudia … despite the fact that Nicola and Claudia were not parties to the alleged agreement.’
Nicola’s grilling is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, where she and Brooklyn, 24, share an apartment.
It will be recorded by ‘sound and visual means’ and will continue from ‘day to day’ until complete, according to a notice filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.
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