By BRAD HAMILTON
Posted: 4:14 am
June 29, 2008
Her father had a stroke, sued his ex-wife, saw his best friend die and brought home a new live-in girlfriend - all in the past year.
And if that weren't enough for 13-year-old Caleigh Perelman to handle, there was also the death of her beloved half-sister's mother - and the imminent departure of this favorite sibling to college in the fall.
Not to mention that her parents, who, starting in 1996, went through an epic split, continue to squabble over her upbringing.
All of which has taken its toll on Caleigh, daughter of Revlon billionaire Ron Perelman and political powerbroker Patricia Duff, said friends of both parents.
The turmoil set the stage for last week's shocking charge by Caleigh's law guardian that Duff was emotionally abusing the girl.
"It's been kind of a rough year for her," said a friend of the family who asked not to be identified.
It's a year in which she hit puberty, had a grand bat mitzvah, showed her first interest in boys and spent increasing amounts of time chatting with friends and having sleepovers at Perelman's palatial home on East 63rd Street, where she spends alternating weeks.
The home is a gathering spot for Caleigh's pals from The Brearley School, as it offers a huge screening room, a billiards parlor, a rooftop hot tub and "every extravagance you can imagine," one friend said.
"[Perelman] is basically letting her do anything she wants. It's kind of couch potato," he added.
But stresses began last June, when Perelman's third ex, gossip columnist Claudia Cohen, died after a six-year battle with ovarian cancer. Her daughter, Samantha, 17, is Caleigh's favorite sibling, family sources said.
"She looks up to her," a friend said. "They're very close."
Caleigh admires Samantha for her work as an entertainment reporter for a teen TV show and for having helped launched a teen-run charity.
Following that lead, Caleigh donated all the cash gifts from her bat mitzvah - a 300-guest affair at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in March - to a foundation in Cohen's honor.
But in September, Caleigh will be without her half-sister.
