Ellen Barkin is trying to correct the record about her divorce to billionaire Ron Perelman. The high-profile New York couple broke up in 2006 – allegedly, Barkin came home one day from shopping and found all of her clothes packed up in boxes and sitting outside the apartment with changed locks. But that was just the rumor at the time.

The other rumors were that Barkin either got something in the neighborhood of a $60 million divorce settlement, or that she got next to nothing because of a pre-nup. The only thing that’s certain is that Barkin very publicly put all of her jewelry up for auction at Christie’s. Most of the pieces were given to her by Perelman, and auction ended up as one of the most successful private collections ever offered. Barkin ended up pocketing in the neighborhood of $20 million dollars.

Barkin gave an interview to the New York Daily News about her divorce, and her new pilot for HBO – it’s a show about “a sassy blond divorcing a powerful husband”. But the “sassy blond” doesn’t get even – the husband in the show dies in the pilot:

…Ellen Barkin is pressing ahead with her HBO pilot about a sassy blond divorcing a powerful husband. But Barkin and her co-producers have decided to kill off her TV husband in the first episode.

“The bastard dies before she can divorce him,” says writer-producer Shauna Cross.

You can bet Perelman, or his lawyers, will still tune in to see if there are any scenes reminiscent of his nasty 2006 split with Barkin. But Barkin swears she’s not a person driven by revenge. Many applauded her when she auctioned off all the jewelry Perelman had given her (for $20.3 million).

“Everyone thought it was a big bleep-you [to Ron],” she tells us. “That’s bull—. It was a purely practical decision. I sold them so I — and my children and my mother — would be taken care of. I sold the jewelry because I’d been out of the movie business for seven years. I was 52. There was a good chance I would never get my spot back again.”

What about the $60 million she’s said to have scored in their divorce settlment?

“It’s a myth,” she says.

So does Perelman understand the auction wasn’t a dis?

“I have no idea. I have no communication with that human being at all. Outside of through our lawyers.”

During her marriage to Perelman, she says, “I wasn’t free to work.” And yet six weeks after she won her freedom, she found herself crying one day.

“[Producer] Jerry Weintraub called. He said, ‘How are you feeling?’ I said, ‘Not very good.’ He said, ‘You’re going to feel a whole lot better in 60 seconds.’ He told me about ‘Ocean’s 13.’ I couldn’t have asked for a better way to say I’m back in the game.”

To her astonishment, the small caper part led to dozens of other offers. “People seemed to say, ‘Wow, we haven’t seen her in a while,’” says Barkin, who’s also developing films with her brother, George.

And is there any guy in her life now? Turning on her shapely calf, she shot us one of her signature winks.

“Sorry, I’m not talking.”

From The New York Daily News

I tend to believe that Barkin walked away from the marriage with very little money – probably only a small cash settlement and her jewels, which is why she sold everything she had. The HBO show sounds interesting, but a lot will depend on the writing. It sounds a little bit like a more graphic version of “The Starter Wife”, and that show was horrible, and just got cancelled. I’m glad she’s getting work, but she was just horrible in Ocean’s Thirteen. She’s better when she plays badass rather than demure or ditzy.

Ellen Barkin is shown on 4/27/08. Credit: WENN