Current:Home > NewsPoinbank:Grey's Anatomy's Jesse Williams Accuses Ex-Wife of "Gatekeeping" Their Kids in Yearslong Custody Case -Wealth Legacy Solutions
Poinbank:Grey's Anatomy's Jesse Williams Accuses Ex-Wife of "Gatekeeping" Their Kids in Yearslong Custody Case
Fastexy Exchange View
Date:2025-04-09 02:08:50
Jesse Williams is Poinbankreigniting his custody battle with ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee.
The Grey's Anatomy alum filed a request on Sept. 10 to change their custody agreement over daughter Sadie, 10, and son Maceo, 9, alleging that Drake-Lee has been "gatekeeping" their kids from him for the last seven years.
"I have never refused Aryn access to the children," Williams said in a signed declaration obtained by E! News Sept. 13. "I constantly try to exemplify normal, healthy coparenting behavior in the hope that she will see it works better than chaos and conflict."
He continued in the court documents, "Aryn’s conduct is the opposite—designed to frustrate my custody and impair my relationship with the children, and she has no concern of the impact her conduct has on our children."
The 43-year-old said Drake-Lee would often "weaponize access to the children," including disrupting his FaceTime calls with the kids and excluding him from their afterschool activities.
Williams is requesting that his and Drake-Lee's custody schedule—which was set in 2017, shortly after he filed for divorce to end their marriage of nearly five years—be altered to have the kids at his house Wednesday to Friday and at Drake-Lee's place Monday to Wednesday, with the former couple splitting weekends evenly.
According to Williams, the current schedule is "unnecessarily challenging for our children and causes unnecessary interactions between me and Aryn."
"A 50/50 custody schedule is in the children’s best interests," he wrote in court docs. "There is no question that spending more time with me is in the children’s best interests. The children benefit from the love and stability I provide them, and they continually ask to spend more time with me."
Accusing Drake-Lee of having a "personal vendetta" against him, Williams argued that updating the current custody agreement "is one of several ways the court can stop the pattern of rewarding Aryn’s toxic, obstructive behavior."
"The children and I are crazy about each other, and we have a deeply loving, active and closely bonded relationship," he added. "There is absolutely no reason why Aryn should have more custodial time with the children than me."
E! News has reached out to Drake-Lee for comment but hasn't heard back.
Williams and Drake-Lee's legal battle spans back to almost a decade, with the pair contending over custody arrangements, child support and COVID-19 protocols.
Back in 2022, Drake-Lee appeared to hint at issues with her and Williams' custody agreement, writing in a cryptic Instagram post while the actor was performing in the New York Broadway play Take Me Out, "Is it good for the health and wellness of a 7yr and 8yr old to be taken out of school on a regular basis to fly cross country overnight on a red eye to be on the ground for two days?"
"Is it reasonable for them to return dazed and confused and then be expected to pick right up and survive at school the rest of the week?" she continued at the time. "I don't think so! Neither do any of the parents who actually parent on a routine basis."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (73859)
Related
- Average rate on 30
- Israel arrests Mexican former diplomat wanted for alleged sexual assault, Mexico’s president says
- Travis Kelce Credits These 2 People “Big Time” for Their Taylor Swift Assist
- Pamela Anderson Reveals How Having Self-Acceptance Inspired Her Makeup-Free Movement
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- What to know about a UN vote to send a Kenya-led force to Haiti to curb gang violence
- Phil Nevin out as Los Angeles Angels manager as playoff drought continues
- Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter Ava Phillippe Details “Intense” Struggle With Anxiety
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- US Rep. John Curtis says he won’t run to succeed Mitt Romney as Utah senator
Ranking
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Group behind ‘alternative Nobel’ is concerned that Cambodia barred activists from going to Sweden
- What is net neutrality? As FCC chair weighs return, what to know about the internet rule
- An emergency alert test will sound Oct. 4 on all U.S. cellphones, TVs and radios. Here's what to expect.
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Police investigate after video shows handcuffed Black man bloodied and bruised during Florida traffic stop
- It's not all bad news: Wonderful and wild stories about tackling climate change
- Schumer to lead a bipartisan delegation of senators to China, South Korea and Japan next week
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
More big strikes loom, with thousands of health care and casino workers set to walk off the job
Stevie Nicks setlist: Here are all the songs on her can't-miss US tour
The Summer I Turned Pretty's Gavin Casalegno Trolls NY Jets for Picking #TeamConrad
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Powerball jackpot climbs to $1.2 billion ahead of Wednesday's drawing
US Rep. John Curtis says he won’t run to succeed Mitt Romney as Utah senator
How a unitard could help keep women in gymnastics past puberty