Pavarotti's widow sues pals for defamation

MODENA , Italy, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Nicoletta Mantovani, wife of the late Luciano Pavarotti, is suing two of the famed Italian tenor's friends for defamation, it was reported Monday.

Mantovani, Pavarotti's second wife and mother of his 4-year-old daughter, Alice, recently slammed the Italian media for reporting "unseemly gossip" about her marriage to the opera great.

"Since the comments did not cease -- and were, in fact, reiterated -- Mantovani had no choice but to file the lawsuit," her attorney, Anna Maria Bernini, told the BBC.

Named in the lawsuit are Franca Corfini Strata, wife of the late singer's dietitian, and Lidia La Marca, wife of conductor Leone Magiera.

Mantovani is seeking more than $20 million in damages from each and plans to to donate any award to charity, Benini said.

Neither Strata nor La Marca was available for comment and no date had been set for a hearing, the BBC said.

The women reportedly have said Pavarotti was unhappy in his marriage and complained that Mantovani threatened to stop him from seeing Alice if he did not sign financial papers she took to his hospital bed, NME.com said.

Pavarotti, 71, died at his home in Modena, Italy, in September.