SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Salsa artist Marc Anthony (search) has offered to pay an outstanding $20,000 bill at a Puerto Rican nightclub to settle a lawsuit, a spokeswoman for the artist said Monday.
Last week Anthony was sued in a Puerto Rican court by Shimmy McHugh, owner of Club Babylon at El San Juan Hotel & Casino.
The lawsuit stemmed from a bill for a private party thrown after the 2002 Miss Universe pageant by the artist along with his then-wife, former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres (search).
The lawsuit, as reported in the Puerto Rican newspaper Primera Hora, alleged Anthony "had indicated that due to personal problems" he declined to pay the bill of $21,067.
Anthony offered to pay the full amount of the bill on Thursday, spokeswoman Holly Taylor said by phone from New York.
"We do expect this matter to actually be settled quite shortly," Taylor said. "We are making every effort to resolve this, and we have not heard back from them on an acceptance yet."
She said Anthony's representatives had been "trying to resolve this for the last several months." The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday.
McHugh couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The lawsuit said the party was held for about 500 people on May 29, 2002.
A judge in the Dominican Republic approved a divorce on June 1 for Anthony and Torres, a Puerto Rican who was crowned Miss Universe in 1993.
Anthony reportedly married Jennifer Lopez (search) days after the divorce, at her home in Beverly Hills, California. Anthony has declined to confirm it.
"He chooses not to comment on his personal life," Taylor said.
Both Anthony and Lopez are of Puerto Rican descent and were born in New York.
Anthony is one of Latin music's most recognizable stars. The salsa singer's worldwide popularity grew with his successful 1999 English-language album "Marc Anthony," and he recently came out with the new album "Amar Sin Mentiras."
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