Bankrupt Basinger's 'baby ban'

KIM BASINGER, the Hollywood star who must pay dollars 8m ( pounds 5.4m) for refusing to appear in the film Boxing Helena, is seeking extra protection from her creditors who, she says, want to stop her having a baby.

Basinger's lawyers say the actress, who has already filed for 'Chapter 11' bankruptcy, will now file for a more extreme form of bankruptcy - 'Chapter 7' - that means her assets will be sold and the proceeds shared among her creditors. Under 'Chapter 11', she would only have to come up with a plan to pay her debts.

Her lawyer, Leslie Cohen, said the producers of Boxing Helena had rejected three 'Chapter 11' plans, and insisted on 'second-guessing' Basinger's future career and having a say in whether she had a baby with her new husband, the actor Alec Baldwin. 'They said a plan should be denied because Basinger could get pregnant,' said Mr Cohen.

The row began in March, when a court awarded a film company, Main Line Productions, dollars 8m because Basinger had broken a verbal promise to appear in Boxing Helena. 'If she were to sign up tomorrow to make a movie under 'Chapter 11', she would have had to devote a substantial amount . . . to payment of creditors,' said one of Main Line's lawyers. Basinger was hoping to 'insulate' that money for herself, he said.

Main Line denies it tried to prevent the actress from having a baby or that it wanted to force her into sub-standard films simply to pay her debts.