Heidi Klum Shows Time Has No Effect on Her With Red Bikini Photos Ahead of 48th Birthday

America’s Got Talent judge Heidi Klum will celebrate her 48th birthday on Tuesday, but she is already in party mode. She shared several poolside photos on Saturday, posing in a red string bikini alongside her dogs. Her husband, Tokio Hotel musician Tom Kaulitz, 31, could also be seen in the photos, alongside his twin brother, Bill Kaulitz. Her birthday weekend comes as news about a legal struggle between Klum and her father, Gunther Klum, in Germany has come to light.

“We [LOVE] the California Sunshine,” Klum wrote in the caption to her post, replacing the “o” in “love” with a heart emoji. As with most of her Instagram posts, fans cannot comment, but over 78,000 have liked the photos. Klum is in California ahead of the America’s Got Talent Season 15 premiere, which is also scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The German supermodel serves as a judge, alongside Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara, and Simon Cowell. Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews is also back to host.

While Klum is putting on a smile for her Instagram page, trouble is brewing in her home country. Over the weekend, The Mirror reported that Klum is “embroiled” in a legal battle with Gunther, 75, after he reportedly trademarked the name of Klum’s 17-year-old daughter, Leni Olumi Klum. He also reportedly trademarked Leni’s nickname, “Mausekatze,” or “mouse cat” in German. He filed for the trademarks in March. If it is proven he did so maliciously, he could face six months in jail or a €250,000 (about $305,000) fine.

Since news of the trademarking moves surfaced in Germany, Gunther has posted several documents on his Instagram page. On May 28, he appeared to mock the idea he could be sent to prison. “Who will send the baked-in file?” he captioned the post in Germany. “I requested the trademark of Leni months ago,” Gunther told the Mirror. “She has her name from my mother Leni. The rights to the trademark Leni Klum are with me.”

Gunther and Klum reportedly had a falling out when she married Kaulitz. He did not attend their wedding. Gunther played an important part in helping Klum launch her modeling career, but she recently dissolved Hedi Klum GMBh, which Gunther oversaw. She then set up a new company around the time of her wedding, but Gunther was not involved.

Leni’s father is Flavio Briatore, but singer Seal adopted her during his marriage to Klum from 2005 to 2014. Klum has three other children with Seal, Henry, 15, Johan, 14, and Lou, 11. The trademarking dispute comes just as Leni begins her own modeling career. Leni made her modeling debut on the cover of Vogue Germany‘s January/February 2021 issue, alongside Klum.