Jesse Williams’ custody battle with ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee is heating up once more.
Williams, 43, filed a request to alter his and Drake-Lee’s custody settlement on Tuesday, September 10, per courtroom paperwork obtained by Us Weekly. In line with the submitting, the actor desires to change visitation and is in search of equal joint bodily custody. (The exes share daughter Sadie, 10, and son Maceo, 9.)
Within the docs, Williams acknowledged that the pair’s present association solely permits for a most of two in a single day stays in the course of the college yr.
“There is no such thing as a query that spending extra time with me is within the kids’s finest pursuits,” Williams stated. “The kids profit from the love and stability I present them, and so they frequently ask to spend extra time with me. I’m actively engaged in Sadie’s and Maceo’s lives.”
Williams additionally claimed that there was “good trigger” for his children to spend “much less time” with their mom as she allegedly has obstructed and interfered together with his time. He accused Drake-Lee of persistently blocking his FaceTime calls, stopping him from attending their kids’s numerous actions and manipulating their trip schedules to restrict time with Williams.
Williams slammed Drake-Lee for her “weird obsession” of allegedly excluding him from his kids’s extracurricular actions when he’s been advocating for coparenting relationship.
“I’ve by no means refused Aryn entry to the kids. I continuously attempt to exemplify regular, wholesome coparenting habits within the hope that she’s going to see it really works higher than chaos and battle,” Williams argued. “Aryn’s conduct is the alternative – designed to frustrate my custody and impair my relationship with the kids, and he or she has no concern of the impression her conduct has on our youngsters.”
Williams added that an equal coparenting settlement would “strengthen” his bond together with his two children so that they have an “alternative to develop up emotionally wholesome.”
“Permitting the kids to spend on the very least, equal time with me won’t solely additional strengthen our loving bond, it’s certainly one of a number of methods the courtroom can cease the sample of rewarding Aryn’s poisonous, obstructive habits,” Williams alleged. “Aryn has made it her mission since I filed for divorce to weaponize entry to the kids, demonstrating her private vendetta is extra necessary than the most effective pursuits of our youngsters.”
Williams and Drake-Lee initially met in 2007 when he was a trainer in New York. The pair tied the knot in September 2012 after 5 years of relationship. The Gray’s Anatomy alum filed for divorce from Drake-Lee in April 2017, 18 months after they welcomed Maceo.
Shortly after their cut up, the twosome started their tumultuous battle for custody. Williams sought out joint custody whereas Drake-Lee requested sole custody attributable to Williams’ work schedule. Along with custody, the pair additionally fought over funds. In July 2018, Williams was ordered to pay greater than $100,000 a month in baby and spousal assist.
Drake-Lee and Williams’ divorce was finalized in October 2020. The duo have been awarded joint authorized and bodily custody. Williams was required to pay $40,000 per thirty days in baby assist and now not wanted to offer spousal assist.
Regardless of coming to an settlement, Williams and Drake-Lee’s custody battle continued. In February 2022, Williams accused his ex-wife of “repeated violation of courtroom orders” and “erratic, gatekeeping habits” per docs obtained by Us. That very same month, the exes reached a brief settlement when a choose denied Drake-Lee’s request to scale back Williams’ visitation with the youngsters.
Two months later, Williams’ baby assist was decreased attributable to his decreased revenue after exiting Gray’s. He was ordered to pay Drake-Lee $6,413 a month.