Barrino’s Love Rival Threatens To Sue

R&B singer FANTASIA BARRINO has been threatened with a lawsuit from the woman who has accused the star of breaking up her marriage.

The former American Idol winner was hospitalised for a drug overdose on Monday (09Aug10) after she became entangled in divorce proceedings between North Carolina couple Antwuan Cook and his estranged wife Paula.

Barrino was released from Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville in North Carolina on Wednesday (11Aug10) and her manager, Brian Dickens, assured fans she was already on the path to recovery.

But her personal woes could soon become legal ones - Paula’s attorneys have warned Barrino’s legal rep she could be hauled into court under a state law which allows a party to sue a “home wrecker” for alienation of affection and criminal conversation, reports People.com.

The singer’s lawyer, Gena Morris, says, “(Paula Cook) has threatened via her lawyers to me to sue Fantasia.

“(The law is) a comical irony because they arrive out of laws when women were property of men.”

However, Morris has called into question the legitimacy of Paula’s allegation - because the former couple has listed differing split dates.

In her court filing, Paula claims she separated from her husband on 16 June, (10), while Cook insists their marriage broke down last summer (09), before he met Barrino.

Morris adds, “If there is a relationship with a married person after they are separated, there is no cause of action for alienation.”

Barrino has admitted to dating Cook “off and on for 11 months”, under the assumption he was separated from his spouse.