Christina Ricci’s Ex-Husband Accused ‘Wednesday’ Actress Of ‘Repeated Attempts At Parental Alienation’ Before Judge Shut Him Down
Jan. 26 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Christina Ricci’s ex-husband James Heerdegen accused the actress of “repeated attempts at paternal alienation” as part of his plea to stop their son from taking a 10-day trip to Canada, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Heerdegen, who is without a lawyer, wrote his own declaration pleading for an emergency hearing.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Ricci had plans to leave the country at the end of the month and return in mid-February. The actress will be shooting her latest project in Vancouver and said she always takes her son with her for extended travel.
In his declaration, Heerdegen said that Ricci’s plan would interfere with their son’s schooling. He claimed their son had 43 unexcused absences during the 2021-22 school year and 10 unexcused absences since September.
Heerdegen blamed Ricci’s busy schedule for their son’s absences. He claimed their son needed structure and consistency. Further, he said that Ricci was “depriving” their son of “the education he needs and deserves.”
Further, he continued to accuse Ricci of “psychological abuse.” Heerdegen said that during these frequent trips, Ricci has used the trips as “focus sessions” for the alleged abuse for the purpose of “further parentally alienating his father”.
He said, “Ricci is using [their son to accomplish her own angry agenda by intentionally painting a negative picture of his father via deprecating comments, blame, and false accusations.”
“Parental alienation is a serious child protection matter as it undermines basic principle of social justice for children — the right to know and to be cared for by both of one’s parents.”
In his declaration, he said the trip to Canada “appears to have been scheduled to intentionally minimize my exposure to my son in the weeks leading up to” him speaking to his new court-appointed lawyer.
“This is a clear continuation of Ms. Ricci’s part of a pattern of coercion, psychological abuse, attempts at parental alienation, and generally poor parental decision.”
He demanded their son not be allowed to travel. Ricci fired back claiming Heerdegen was throwing a fit because the judge had recently stripped him of overnight visits.
She said, “Jimmy is simply harassing me at this point and is taking out his anger on me because the Court temporarily eliminated his every other Saturday overnight. Jimmy is abusing this process by going into Court on an emergency basis asking for completely baseless custody orders. He will use the excuse that he does not have a lawyer, and does not know what he is doing, but he does not have to be a lawyer to know how to abuse the Court system.”
The judge ended up siding with Ricci and ordering their son can take the trip.
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As RadarOnline.com first reported, Ricci and Heerdegen settled their divorce in December. They agreed to share joint legal custody with Ricci having most of the physical custody. Weeks later, the actress asked for her ex’s overnight visits to be suspended based on a therapist’s recommendations. The judge granted the motion and said Heerdegen could argue his case at a future hearing.
Heerdegen claimed that Ricci and the therapist were working together to strip him of custody. He said his ex was flush with cash and ready to take him down in court as he found himself without funds to pay for a lawyer.
