Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian were supported by her ex-husband Arun Naya as they attended a glitzy screening for his directorial debut Strictly Confidential at the Robin Williams Center in New York on Wednesday.
The actress, 58, stunned in a plunging silver metallic gown as she posed for snaps with the model, 22, ahead of the film’s US release on Prime Video on April 5.
Businessman Arun, 59, split from Elizabeth in 2011 after four years of marriage, but has remained close with her son Damian, who calls him ‘daddy.’
Arun is not Damian’s biological father, but Elizabeth has previously said she always considered him to be his dad after the former couple married when Damian was five.
Damian’s biological father Steve Bing died by suicide in 2020, with the model admitting that his passing, and the death of Elizabeth’s former fiancé Shane Warne partially inspired his Caribbean-set mystery thriller.
Despite the end of their marriage due to alleged ‘unreasonable behaviour,’ Elizabeth and Arun remain on good terms, celebrating the New Year together in January.
Elizabeth said of Arun during an interview with the Daily Mail’s YOU magazine in 2018: ‘Arun is Damian’s daddy and a very good one too, they see each other a lot.’
The pair have a close relationship and during some summers they have holidayed together alongside Damian, whose biological father is the late Steve.
On June 22 2020, the movie producer died by suicide at the age of 55.
Damian was born after an 18-month relationship between millionaire businessman Bing and Elizabeth in the early 2000s.
The pair split amid a bitter paternity row and a subsequent DNA test confirmed Bing was Damian’s father.
While it had been claimed that Bing had never met his son, Elizabeth confirmed after his death that father and son had grown close in recent times and had spoken on Damian’s 18th birthday.
She told YOU magazine in 2020: ‘It had been great to connect again. We hadn’t been friends for a very long time, but about a year and a half ago he came back into our lives.
‘It’s very sad… just terrible. Horrific that it happened but there is some comfort to know we had made up and there was no bad feeling.’
Three years ago, details of Damian’s late father’s will emerged, among them the claim that Bing had disinherited his two children, Damian and Kira Kerkorian, due to it being drawn up before their births.
Steve, who received a $600million inheritance from his grandfather when he turned 18, had his will drawn up in 2001 – before he knew Kira had been born and while Elizabeth was pregnant.
Damian previously discussed the inspirations for his directorial debut, which included his biological father’s death.
The star – whose ‘close friend’ also committed suicide in 2019 – told ET on Tuesday: ‘I’d gone through quite a lot of loss, quite a lot of grief.’
Damian has also defended his decision to direct his mother in the film’s racier moments, revealing they didn’t even have an intimacy co-ordinator on set while filming a steamy lesbian sex scene.
The model insisted that while it may appear ‘strange’ to regular people, for those who have grown up in the industry as celebrity offspring, it is routine.
Speaking to The Sunday Times about filming his mother’s racy scenes, he admitted: ‘I hate to say that it felt totally normal. I don’t know what that says about us.
‘I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also second generation of parents in the industry. They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us we’ll just have grown up with in everyday life.’
Damian added that there was no need for intimacy co-ordinators on set, claiming ‘everyone was very comfortable’.
He added that Elizabeth taught him about sex when he was ‘ludicrously young’, insisting that it is a ‘beautiful and natural’ act, but banning him from watching violence in films.
The drama follows Mia, played by CBBC star Georgia Lock, as she is drawn into a ‘world of sex, duplicity and betrayal’ while trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her best friend Rebecca’s suicide.
The trailer shows Mia returning to the exotic Caribbean island where Rebecca died, and along with uncovering old passions, vows to learn the truth about her friend’s death.
Strictly Confidential will be released in cinemas and on Prime Video on April 5 in the US, before hitting the UK on May 13.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
