Sam and Lara Worthington are in a legal dispute with the landlord of their former Chelsea sublet. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
Aussie power couple Sam and Lara Worthington are suing their former landlord, after he refused to return the security deposit.
And the reason he isn’t returning it is because of a precious table, The Post reports.
Designed by the late Modernist architect Charles Gwathmey, the luxury piece is valued at nearly $175,000 (US$115,000), and if it’s damaged, it allegedly requires $130k (US$86,000) worth of repairs.
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It sits in an enormous Manhattan loft in the popular area of Chelsea, and is owned by Gwathmey’s stepson, Eric Steel, who rents out the unit for around $45.400 (US$30,000) a month.
And now, Steel is allegedly refusing to return the security deposit to his most recent subletters — Sam and Lara Worthington (formerly Bingle), who sued him earlier this month in Manhattan Supreme Court.
In response, Steel claims that the Worthingtons wrecked the trophy table and trashed the loft. He is demanding payment of $454,000 (US$300,000).
The dispute is oddly similar to one from a decade ago, when Steel sued a previous high-profile subtenant, media mogul Arianna Huffington, whom he accused of wrecking the very same table and trashing the place.
“Steel’s attempt to use his playbook of fabricating damage and targeting his tenants for remuneration will not be tolerated by the Worthingtons, who left the apartment in near-pristine condition,” Worthington’s lawyer Anne W. Salisbury told The Post.
The table is valued at US$115,000 and unusable without US$86,000 in repairs, according to court paperwork filed by Gwathmey’s stepson, Eric Steel Pictures: The Post
“Steel’s demands and counterclaims are demonstrably false and baseless under New York law, as the Worthingtons will prove in court.”
Sam Worthington is known for his acting in “Avatar” while Lara is a model with nearly 2 million Instagram followers, and they recently vacated the unit after a year or so of subletting.
The Worthingtons, who have three young sons, admit to normal wear and tear, and to some damages beyond their control — such as water intrusion from the building envelope, the lawsuit says.
They left behind a broken cupboard, plus some nicks and scrapes on the walls.
“Plaintiffs could not possibly have caused more than a couple thousand dollars of damage,” the Worthingtons’ lawyer says.
The table appears in the background as the Worthingtons’ movers pack up. Pictures: Getty Images / The Post
The Worthingtons offered to pay more than the cost of repairs, Salisbury told The Post.
As for that $86,000 to repair the Gwathmey table, the suit calls the sum “astronomical … to the point of absurdity.”
The unit came partly furnished, according to the sublease included in the lawsuit. But “the only mention of the table was when Plaintiffs wanted to remove all furniture before they took possession, and were told the table would not fit in the service elevator, so could only be taken out through the window.
“No word about the special finish, the need to apply a special coating, or the need to bring the whole table to its manufacturer just to do the re-finishing there,” the suit says.
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Steel’s list of demands includes US$6,500 for “supervision, service and co-ordination;” US$21,450 for redoing the floors; and US$15,200 for refurbishing metal sinks, shelves and windowsills — all part of an estimate of US$87,000 worth of construction work.
When the Worthingtons vacated, they left the apartment in “near-pristine condition,” their lawyer said. Pictures: The Post
His list also includes US$120,000 for four months of lost rent, according to court filings.
Steel has rented out the co-op unit — worth around $10 million — to seven tenants between 2004 and 2024, according to court filings.
“Because of the Apartment’s unique and exquisite design, Mr. Steel has often leased the Apartment to prominent figures in the fashion, art and media world,” says the counterclaim filed by Steel’s lawyer, Jacob S. Reichman of Kudman Trachten Aloe Posner LLP.
12 years ago Mr Steel sublet the apartment to Arianna Huffington. Upon her departure, Steel sued her for US$275,000, for wrecking the very same table as well as trashing the place.
Steel has rented out the co-op unit in this Chelsea building to seven tenants between 2004 and 2024. Pictures: The Post / Tamara Beckwith
“The Gwathmey designed, custom made dining room table was damaged and scratched and the finish compromised. It had to be crated, hoisted out of the apartment and repaired by the original manufacturer,” according to that suit, which also called the table “irreplaceable.”
At the time, Huffington said in a statement, “every single claim in this suit is false except the square footage and the address. Eric Steel, who happily renewed the lease twice and visited the apartment multiple times, is holding on to $93,000 in deposits, which he has refused to return.”
That suit was settled quickly.
“This is not the first time the landlord has done this,” the lawsuit from the Worthingtons reads. “Steel sued a famous public figure for nearly identical claims of damage. After a torrent of negative press, this individual settled the case … this abuse of the legal system and landlord misconduct cannot be countenanced.”
Lara Worthington and Sam Worthington are seen front row at the Ferragamo Spring Summer 2025 Fashion Show during the Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2025 on September 21, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Jacopo M. Raule/Getty Images for Ferragamo)
Sam and Lara originally packed up and left Australia because they had gotten sick of the limelight.
After moving to Los Angeles, the power couple continued to grow their influence, while continuing to fade from the public eye.
Lara Worthington, nee Bingle, formerly lived a life of nude photo scandals and tabloid drama, and Sam Worthington made headlines when he was sued for punching a paparazzo in 2014, yelling at him to stay away from his “wife”.
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This story first appeared in The Post and was republished with permission.
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