Is it really co-parenting if you don't share? When shocking allegations rocked the court,
these former lovers went ham on their exes.
Paula Patton and Robin Thicke first met
at an under-21 nightclub in Los Angeles. They got married in 2005, they welcomed their son Julian
in 2010, and then they got divorced in 2015. Two years later, their custody battle got heated.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Patton accused her ex of using drugs and alcohol and
being physically and emotionally abusive. Thicke's attorneys denied the claims, saying Patton was
just fighting dirty during the trial. Regardless, she was granted a temporary restraining order,
meaning Thicke could only have monitored visits with Julian. According to ET,
Patton also accused Thicke of child abuse. He was later cleared by Child Protective Services.
"In divorce and such, it is just so foolish and so wrong for the kid, to fight with each other."
A few months later, the dust finally began to settle for the former lovebirds and they reached
a custody agreement. According to People, the two would share custody, with Thicke caring for Julian
from Monday through Wednesday, and Patton getting Wednesday through Friday.
Weekend custody would be alternated in equal turns. In 2021,
Thicke revealed the pair had undergone therapy for co-parenting.
"That really opened the door for communication in
a much better way for us. And our son is thriving."
Reality star-turned-mogul Bethenny Frankel
and Jason Hoppy tied the knot in 2010. They then untied it in 2021 after separating in 2012.
But describing their custody war as "unfriendly" wouldn't even come close to what really went down.
In 2014, People reported that the gloves were officially off when Frankel accused Hoppy of
threatening her, and he accused her of using their daughter, Bryn, as a prop.
Five years later, the fight was still going on. Us Weekly reported that Frankel had
asked the courts for full custody, claiming her ex-husband had a temper problem, harassed her,
and allowed Bryn to see negative press about her. At the same time,
Hoppy accused Frankel of bad parenting and putting Bryn in harm's way.
As Page Six noted, in 2021 a judge granted 50/50 custody to the former couple.
And after Frankel claimed Bryn spent most of her time with her,
she no longer had to pay Hoppy child support. Hoppy told the court,
"I will not spend the remainder of Bryn's childhood fighting as we share joint physical
custody. Bryn knows I love her, I want her, and I will always be available for our time together."
As Frankel revealed of her daughter on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2022,
"She's an artist, she is free and loved and she's in a great place. We're good."
The paparazzi went wild
when Ciara and Future got engaged in 2013. But the singer and rapper also made headlines during
their custody fight over their son, Future. Their breakup came in 2014 amid talk that the rapper was
sleeping with his stylist. Two years later, Ciara accused her ex of being a bad parent,
claiming via the Daily Mail that little Future would come home smelling like urine and weed.
"At the end of the day, my son will be the one that's affected most out of this."
After the rapper blasted Ciara on social media and in interviews, she responded with
a hefty $15 million defamation suit, which was later dropped. And by January 2017,
the custody issues appeared to be over. Newly married to NFL star Russell Wilson,
TMZ reported that Ciara was granted joint custody but would have her son most of the time.
Still, the problems seemed to continue. In 2018, Ciara accused Future of missing
several scheduled visits. And when he did pick up their son,
the outlet noted she accused him of passing their kid off to family members to babysit.
Not every custody fight gets messy over time. When
it came to Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde, it immediately started out that way. In April 2022,
Wilde was served with custody papers while talking about her film "Don't Worry Darling"
at CinemaCon. Their two children, Otis and Daisy, were eight and five at the time.
As of May 2022, the mother-of-two has not commented on being served in public.
And an insider reportedly told People,
"Mr. Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have
been delivered as this would solely be up to the process service company
involved and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner."
Still, as Variety noted, some believed Sudeikis had to have known.
We can only wait and see what is revealed next.
After five years together,
and welcoming daughter Nahla, Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry split in 2010.
And the Canadian model didn't waste any time getting vicious.
According to People, Berry alleged that Aubry had threatened her, with her rep stating,
"She has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father,
Gabriel Aubry directly, but given his lack of cooperation,
Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention."
"It's a nightmare for me."
Aubry denied the abuse claims. And according to TMZ, he also submitted legal docs to be
officially listed as Nahla's father. At one point, Berry was paying $16,000
a month to Aubry in child support, which she vented about on Instagram.
It was eventually dropped to $8,000 a month after she challenged the original amount.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie split in 2008. And for a while, whatever custody agreement they had for
their son Rocco seemed to be working. But that changed in 2015 when a then 15-year-old Rocco
abruptly left Madonna's "Rebel Heart" tour and hightailed it to his dad's in the U.K.
"It kills me. But, I mean, that's life."
According to HuffPost, after Rocco refused an order to return to New York,
Madonna went to court again to have Rocco sent to her for the holidays.
At that point, a judge ordered that Rocco figure out his living arrangements
while with his mom in the States. But the New York Post reported that Rocco did not want to return.
In 2017, a settlement was reached where Rocco would live with Ritchie in London,
according to ABC News.
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's
divorce began in 2006, with a custody agreement just a few years later. But that arrangement was
modified after Federline was given primary custody of their sons Preston and Jayden in 2008. The
decision came after Spears refused to give the boys back to her ex, which led to her arrest.
She was then taken to a hospital and placed on a psychiatric hold, according to The Guardian.
"Baby what are you gonna be when you grow up?"
"I'm gonna be the president of the dog states."
Federline spoke about having primary custody in 2017, revealing to Bravo,
"I'm used to not having all my kids, and this is gonna be one of those years. When you are
co-parenting, you have to be willing to give up some of the things you would really like to do.
It wasn't always easy, but it's a lot easier now."
In 2018 Federline went to court for more child support. He had already
been taking home $20,000 a month. Spears then was reportedly ordered to pay thousands more.
When Jennifer Hudson filed a protective
order against her ex David Otunga, it was clear their custody dispute was messy.
As E! News reported, Hudson got the order in the best interest of their son David Jr.
But big David claimed she was just trying to get a leg up in their custody battle.
"Little David, he is the sweetest little baby in the whole wide world."
Otunga claimed he should be the primary caregiver because Hudson works
and often travels. But the singer slammed the idea that she can't balance career
and family. Otunga also wanted Hudson to buy him a house. And as court docs noted,
"Nothing entitles David to live in a home identical to Jennifer's. Having a child with a
celebrity should not be the basis to treat David like someone who has given birth to a child."
The former couple settled their custody issues in 2019,
with undisclosed details due to a gag order from 2017.
Most people were introduced to "Teen
Mom 2's" Leah Messer when she was 16 and about to welcome twins, Ali and Aleeah. She was married to
baby daddy Corey Simms for just six months, and the fight over their twins started years later.
"I'm not being mean."
"You just told me that I can't take care of my kids."
Simms sued Messer for full custody because she often brought the girls to school late.
He was granted primary custody, with Messer getting the kids Friday through Monday
and him Monday through Friday. Stating that the couple was doing whatever was best for the kids,
Messer explained the arrangement, telling Us Weekly,
"It's always been 50/50. People were like, 'Leah lost custody.' I almost did, but I
never lost custody of my children. […] I wasn't in the greatest place mentally and then it was
affecting me physically like it almost cost me my children. I became suicidal. It was a struggle."
Messer has since gotten treatment and appears to be doing well.
After a three-year relationship practically
lived out in the press, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee divorced in 1998. And right away,
they duked it out over their sons Brandon and Dylan, with Anderson suing for full custody.
In 2001, the Daily Mail published court papers in which Anderson accused Lee of abuse toward her
and their sons. Citing his 1998 jail sentence for assaulting her, she stated,
"Tommy's behavior has deteriorated to such an extent that I am afraid
for the emotional well-being of the children while in his care."
According to the New York Post,
Anderson alleged that Lee was particularly dangerous when using alcohol. Lee denied it,
saying he abandoned the rock star lifestyle for a healthier one. Lee then accused Anderson
of partying instead of parenting and said the kids resented her for working too much.
"I had kids because I wanted to raise my kids. And being a single mom was hard."
Miraculously, in 2002, Entertainment Weekly reported that the pair had
reached a settlement that gave them joint custody. And with that, the drama was over.