Eric Benet to Halle Berry: Pay Up!

This, according to that significant cultural artifact The Star:

"Now that Halle Berry, 37, has finally filed for divorce from her cheating husband Eric Benet, sources say that Benet seems to be pulling out all the stops to get as much money as he can from his soon-to-be ex-wife. He's currently challenging the prenuptial agreement they signed at the start of their 32-month marriage, and he's using his 12-year old daughter, India, as a pawn, according to insiders."

The Corsair munches unsalted popcorn and moves in closer.

"'Eric has demanded insane amounts of money to maintain his lifestyle,' says an insider. 'He's telling Halle that India, too, is starting to suffer and has become withdrawn because she was taken out of that lifestyle 'so abruptly,'

"On June 1, Benet, 37, filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court questioning the validity of his prenup. Neither Berry's nor Benet's reps returned calls for comment."

Moving in closer, The Corsair mouths, silently: "It's on ... it's on like Gray Poupon."

"Outside court, however, sources tell Star that Eric has shamelessly brought his daughter into the mix, even threatening to limit Halle's visits with her. Halle and India have been close ever since Halle and Eric became serious in the late '90s. When the couple married in January 2001, Halle accepted India -- whose biological mother died in a car accident when she was a toddler -- as if she were her own. 'I'm all she's got as far as a mother goes,' Berry has said. 'It feels as if she's my own; she calls me 'mommy.'

The Corsair mouths the words, a tear gliding down his downy cheek, 'Mommy.'

" ... Now India appears to be at the center of a divorce battle that has become increasingly bitter in recent weeks, sources say. Benet 'tells Halle that India has gotten used to the way other girls -- rich girls -- dress, act and shop. Therefore, he wants Halle to pay up,' the insider says. 'He pretty much dangled India in front of Halle's nose -- like dangling a carrot in front of a horse -- and when she went to grab it, Eric would pull India back until Halle melted down,' says the friend. For a while these scare tactics seemed to work, but sources say Halle has now had enough. The insider says, 'Halle is hoping any fair judge will see Benet's ploy for what it is and not award him one dime.'"

Eric Benet strikes The Corsair as a lazy, shiftless, lowdown cheating ... musician.

Quick: What do you call a musician who breaks up with his girlfriend?

Homeless ...