Sports Illustrated model Hilary Rhoda reportedly sues mom for stealing from her

Actress Hilary Rhoda arrives at the premiere of Ides of March in New York October 5, 2011. (Reuters)

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Hilary Rhoda is reportedly suing her own mom/former manager for allegedly stealing six figures from her, according to Page Six.

The mother-daughter legal war also reveals that Hilary’s mom disapproves of her new husband, Sean Avery, claiming in a countersuit this week that after leaving the NHL his work was “sporadic” and “prospects for employment were highly speculative.”

In a case that has never before come to light, Hilary sued Marianne Rhoda in federal court in 2014, claiming her mom “manipulated her familial role to improperly seize — and then abuse — enormous power over Hilary’s finances.” The suit claims Marianne forged Hilary’s signature, diverted “substantial funds” for her retirement, refused to provide accounting records and used a company credit card “for hundreds of thousands of dollars” in personal expenses — including “divorce attorneys,” a “pool vendor” and shopping trips to Neiman Marcus, Barneys and someplace called Carpet Palace of Bethesda.

The suit further claims Marianne used her daughter’s funds as a “personal piggy bank,” including a 2009 withdrawal of $1 million plus wire transfers of more than $1.9 million to Marianne’s personal account and “vendors . . . with no apparent association” to Hilary’s modeling work.

The papers also allege that when Hilary became engaged to Avery, her mother began “a constant barrage of ad hominem attacks” on him and left Hilary “extremely exasperated.”

But Marianne’s just-filed countersuit denied all the allegations and claimed breach of contract. She says that because of Avery, she was “concerned” for Hilary’s financial future, and “Avery prevailed upon [Hilary] to refrain from seeking a prenuptial agreement and embarked on a concerted effort to estrange” her mom.

Marianne didn’t attend Hilary’s October wedding. Avery was arrested in Southampton Village, Long Island, days before the nuptials on criminal mischief charges and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Reps for Hilary and her mom had no comment.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six.