Jaime King’s custody agreement with ex-husband Kyle Newman has been changed after she allegedly didn’t complete a rehabilitation program.
Newman, 49, has been awarded sole physical custody of their two sons, James, 11, and Leo, 9, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Monday, March 17. The boys will now primarily reside with their father.
King, 45, and Newman still have joint legal custody of their children, but a judge ruled that Newman will have “tie-breaking authority” on that front as well, per the filing. (Us has reached out for comment.)
The new agreement was issued because King “has not completed” a six-month drug and alcohol program. The Hart of Dixie alum’s rehab program is supposed to include weekly testing, aftercare and a 12-step program as well as a 26-week parenting program, according to the docs.
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Additionally, King must attend individual counseling to address her case issues and take part in conjoint counseling with her kids when their therapist thinks it’s appropriate.
As such, the actress will have supervised visits with her sons every Tuesday and Thursday at specified times as well as every other Sunday. King’s mother, sister and brother-in-law are all among the list of approved supervisors, according to the filing is Newman’s brother, Kevin, and a few family friends.
Us confirmed in May 2020 that King filed for divorce after 12 years of marriage. At the time, she requested a temporary restraining order, which was withdrawn in June 2020. (Newman has since moved on with musician Cyn, with whom he shares son Etienne, 4, and daughter Beatrix, 18 months.)
Amid their divorce battle, King claimed that Newman was aggressive and emotionally manipulative throughout their marriage. “While outwardly I am a strong, working actress and producer, behind closed doors I was beaten down,” she alleged in court documents obtained by Us in November 2020. “I have suffered the most confusing trauma-filled experiences. … He has systematically made me feel inadequate, insecure, unsafe and traumatized.”
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Newman denied the accusations. In his own filing, Newman alleged that King was a “chronic drug addict and alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge that she has a problem.”
After trading jabs for years, King and Newman settled their divorce in September 2023.
“It was an emotional day at the courthouse yesterday, as Jaime and Kyle sat down in a room and hammered out the details of their settlement, putting their two children first,” Newman’s lawyer, Garry M. Gekht, said in a statement to Us at the time. “It was truly touching to see them get along again after years of acrimony — Jaime even joined Kyle to get coffee across the street from the courthouse as I was writing up the settlement agreement.”
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Less than one year later, King and Newman were back in the news over another disagreement over their two sons.
King filed an emergency request in April 2024 to end her child support payments to Newman, claiming in court documents that she “lacks the ability to pay the support.” She also requested an end to their previous spousal support agreement.
In response, Newman filed his own claim with the court alleging that King had “been out of compliance with the court’s child and spousal support orders for well over a year.”
