‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star Jesse Williams’ Ex-Wife Demands Primary Custody Of Kids, Claims Actor’s ‘Erratic Behavior’ Causes Her To Fear For Her Safety
Jan. 18 2022, Published 2:51 p.m. ET
Jesse Williams is being accused of threatening to call the police on his ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee over recent custody disputes — and she wants him stripped of joint custody immediately.
According to court documents obtained by Radar, the actor’s ex is accusing Jesse of failing to follow the current schedule in place. As a result, she wants the court order stating they share joint custody of their 2 kids to state she has primary.
Jesse filed for divorce from Aryn in 2017 after being together for 13 years. They had been married for 5 years. The split was nasty with both sides playing dirty in court.
They were finally able to reach a settlement in 2020. The biggest part of their agreement was the joint legal and physical custody of their kids. Jesse agreed to pay $50,629 a month in child support until October 2019 and then the amount dropped to $40k a month.
In her motion, Aryn is asking the court to change the custody agreement to state Jesse has visitation, not joint custody. She wants the court to order Jesse can have visitation on the 1st, 3rd and 5th weekends of each month. She also is demanding he turn over detailed future filming project schedules to allow her time to plan. In the past, she accused him of not giving her a heads up on his shooting schedules.
Aryn says the original custody deal was entered there have been substantial changes in circumstances. She claims Jesse’s work schedule, his decision to fire their nanny and hire another set of providers, the pandemic and other circumstances, “which have resulted in increased inconsistency, longer absences, regular last-minute cancelations and other issues which are incredibly disruptive to our children’s lives."
She wrote, “I am requesting modification of the custody schedule and other provisions of the judgment to better reflect the new reality of our lives, and most importantly, properly, and positively address the needs of our children.”
Aryn claims Jesse decided to fire their longtime nanny in March 2020 in violation of the court order. She claims Jesse said he would be home more due to the pandemic. However, she claims the kids struggled without their trusted nanny and their energy has changed in the past couple of months.
“I have tried to communicate with Jesse to resolve these issues to no avail. In May 2020, I sent a detailed communication with my concerns about their health and exhaustion, which Jesse read and ignored. Since then, I have sent multiple messages about the recurring issues, but he has continued this trend of not participating in meaningful conversations or strategies about their health,” she wrote.
To make matters worse, Aryn says after Jesse left Grey’s Anatomy in May 2021 his schedule is all over the place. “Since Jesse’s exit, there have been multiple instances of Jesse notifying me with very little notice that he will be gone for weeks or months at a time for work, and therefore must cancel his custodial time,” Aryn claims.
“Despite my repeated requests, he routinely refuses to share the details of his schedule. Rather, he tells me he’s leaving without sharing specifics, only making vague references as to when he might be back,” she tells the court.
Aryn says she went and rehired the longtime nanny. She has been paying for the expenses out of her pocket.
In her declaration, Aryn says Jesse has canceled time with his kids over 15 times. She claims he will cancel and then call back to un-cancel.
“When I've reminded Jesse of his cancelations and informed him of plans made because of said cancelations, he has resorted to erratic behavior to try to force me to acquiesce to his demands; he calls me names, uses threatening language and intimidation tactics such as threatening to send the police to my home, causing me to fear for my and our children’s safety,” she writes.
A hearing on the matter has been set for April. Jesse has yet to respond.
Per the settlement, Aryn also walked away with the former family home in Los Angeles along with two other properties. The actor was awarded nearly $1 million he made in profits from the ABC medical drama — that was being fought over since their 2017 separation.
