"Rocky" Star Paid Millions to Step Sister

The quotes are short.  What do you make of them?

At the height of his fame, Sylvester Stallone reached a confidential multimillion-dollar settlement with his half-sister Toni-Ann Filiti over allegations the “Rocky” star abused her for years, Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Sources close to the star insist the settlement was the result of a “shakedown” and that the “Rambo” hero was a victim of blackmail.

Papers obtained by Page Six show Stallone agreed 16 years ago to give his half-sister $2 million plus $16,666.66 per month for her lifetime, plus a trust with $50,000 per year for psychiatric and medical expenses.

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Sylvester Stallone

WireImage for MGM

Toni Ann Filiti-Schaub, Jackie Stallone and guest (believed to be Edd) at the 2006 World Premiere of 'Rocky Balboa' at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California

Ben Beeharry/FilmMagic.com

Jackie Stallone

According to the papers, Filiti “asserted claims for personal injury, including physical injury” against Stallone, who “vigorously denied and continues to deny and dispute all claims of wrongdoing.”

Sources say Filiti threatened a lawsuit, but he settled before it was ever filed. Filiti died in August last year from lung cancer at age 48.

Jacqueline Stallone, mother of Sly and Toni-Ann, says the settlement was the result of blackmail by Filiti, whom she described as a pillpopping drug addict desperate for cash.

“This was nothing more than a shakedown,” Jacqueline said yesterday. “Toni-Ann was on 65 Oxycontin pills a day, and she threatened Sylvester. A drug addict will do anything. When Sylvester became famous, she didn’t have to hook. He was trying to help her. He caved in.”

She added of the allegations, “There were too many conflicting stories . . . At the time [in 1987] he was very hot, and his lawyers said, ‘Give her something just to shut her up.’ ”

But Filiti’s 19-year-old son Edd, says, “They’ve made my mother out to be the black sheep,” and claims Filiti told him of the abuse allegations by “screaming about [them] over and over” while in a Florida hospital bed last year.

A Stallone rep said, “Unfortunately, celebrities, politicians and athletes frequently find themselves the targets of blackmail efforts by family members and associates who fabricate claims in order to extort payments from them.”