DiCaprio in scrap over 'his' Madiba pic

American memorabilia dealer Gary Zimet is spoiling for a fight - and he is taking on one of Hollywood's biggest stars.

The battle is over a picture of Nelson Mandela.

It is not just any photograph, but one of Madiba with Leonardo DiCaprio. It is signed by Mandela.

DiCaprio has unleashed a pack of lawyers on the collector in an attempt to retrieve the signed photograph, which he claims belongs to him.

Zimet keeps the photograph in a vault, but took it out this week to pose with it for a photograph for the Sunday Times.

The colour image, taken while DiCaprio was filming the 2006 movie Blood Diamond, was put up for auction on Zimet's memorabilia online auction house, Moments in Time, earlier this month.

Mandela personally wrote on the image: "To Leo DiCaprio, Best Wishes, Mandela, 4-8-07."

But for some reason, the photograph never reached the actor.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said it was unaware of the picture's existence.

Danielle Melville, speaking on behalf of the foundation, said: "We are not aware of this image, nor do we have a record of it in our archive, so we are unable to comment."

Zimet has already received offers of more than $25000 (about R264000) for the portrait, which measures 23x30cm.

On learning of the picture's existence, DiCaprio's publicist and attorney, Steve Warren, said it belonged to his client and he was demanding it back.

Initially concerned about the negative publicity a tiff might provoke, according to the New York Post this week, Zimet wanted to give DiCaprio the photograph as a gift. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing," he said.

Days later he had a change of heart. This week, he said: "He's worth over $200-million."

Zimet has already received a "threatening letter" in which, he claimed, DiCaprio's lawyers tried to bully him into handing over the photograph.

"They wanted to steamroll me, but I'm not steamrollable," he said.

Warren, whose clients also include Charlize Theron, Tobey Maguire and Drew Barrymore, could not be reached for comment.

Chuckling, Zimet said in an interview with the Sunday Times: "They know they don't have a case. I told them that he [DiCaprio] is welcome to buy it from me."

The star of The Great Gatsby and numerous other hit movies commands $39-million (about R400-million) for each film appearance.

Zimet claims to have bought the photograph in a telephonic bid after seeing it in a brochure published by an auction house in Europe last month.

"It was a legitimate auction," he said. He declined to disclose the auctioneer's details.

When asked whether he was surprised by the reaction of DiCaprio's lawyers, Zimet said: "I've had many battles over the years. Paul McCartney tried to sue me about 20 years ago over part of the original Sergeant Pepper lyrics I had acquired."

McCartney, he said, had claimed those were stolen, but this was dismissed by the court. "There was never a police report of the theft."