Rumours of riches a bit rich

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-24 15:05
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Rumours of riches a bit richMexican big-screen siren Salma Hayek has dismissed as nonsense reports that she has a $US100 million ($A133 million) fortune, and said if she did she would retire and use the money to help the poor.

Local media in Mexico and Latin America reported that the Oscar-nominated actress had been ranked by Fortune magazine as the second-richest Latin American in Hollywood, with nearly half as much money as singer Jennifer Lopez.

"It's a huge lie. It's very, very far from reality. I don't have that amount of money," Hayek told Reuters, after reading an article in Mexican daily El Universal about a list of "Latino millionaires" in the United States.

"Somebody sent me it and I laughed. It's a bit like a joke. Obviously I have never earned $100 million and I wouldn't even want to," she said in a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home.

A spokesman for Fortune said he was not aware the magazine had published such a list. "It's certainly not a list we've done. It seems somebody got their facts mixed up," he said.

Hayek, 39, a smouldering beauty and former star of a top Mexican soap who seduced Hollywood when she appeared opposite Antonio Banderas in the 1995 movie Desperado, is not known for flashy big-budget productions.