Hilary Duff's father jailed

Hilary Duff's father has been jailed for contempt of court.

Robert Duff was reportedly arrested yesterday (27.08.08) and sent by a judge to a Texas county jail for allegedly violating an injunction by selling assets without court approval.

He must pay the $368,000 he earned from the sale into a court fund and serve 10 days in jail. The arrest came following an earlier dispute between the 20-year-old singer's parents over her birthday party.

Robert and Susan - who have been involved in a bitter divorce battle for two-and-a-half years - appeared in court after Susan requested $25,000 to spend on presents and a party for Hilary's 21st birthday next month - the same sum she claims they spent on elder daughter Haylie's 21st in 2006.

A lawyer for Robert asked Susan - who claimed she relies on financial help from Hilary to pay lawyers' fees and other bills - if her "adult millionaire daughter would be upset if she did not receive an expensive gift and party for her birthday".

Susan replied that her daughter "is emotionally upset by the abandonment of her father and deserves to have some kind of recognition for a young life well lived", before claiming he currently spends his cash on buying his girlfriend's sons gifts.

Robert was ordered to pay $12,500 to Susan for Hilary's birthday, before being arrested for contempt of court. His lawyer says he plans to appeal.

Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, pop singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame for playing the title role in the television series Lizzie McGuire. Duff went on to have a film career; her most commercially successful movies include Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and A Cinderella Story (2004).
Duff has expanded her repertoire into pop music, with four RIAA certified Platinum albums and over thirteen million albums sold worldwide.[1] Her first studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), was certified triple platinum and she followed it up with two more platinum albums, Hilary Duff (2004) and Most Wanted (2005). Duff's last studio album, Dignity, was released in April 2007 and was certified Gold in August 2007.[2]