Jesse Williams and his ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee have been fighting over custody of their children and child support for more than a year. A few months ago, everything heated up with accusations being played out in the press, and TMZ trying to paint Aryn as a money-hungry ex out to fleece Jesse (big surprise for how TMZ framed that). Jesse reportedly told the dang court that Aryn needed to stop spending so much money, and that she needs to shop at IKEA. The court was like “nah.” In July, the judge ruled that Jesse needs to pay Aryn about $100,000 A MONTH in child support and alimony. Jesse is now appealing that decision.
Jesse Williams‘ messy divorce proceedings continue. According to court papers obtained by The Blast, the Grey’s Anatomy actor, 37, filed a notice of appeal on Monday in an attempt to change the child support he pays to ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee. He filed the appeal in the Superior Court of California of the County of Los Angeles.
Williams shares daughter Sadie and son Maceo with Drake-Lee. In June, Williams was ordered to pay more than $50,000 per month in child support in addition to the $50,695 per month in spousal support that he has paid Drake-Lee since January 2018.
A forensic accountant found that Williams earns more than $521,000 per month. In April 2017, Drake-Lee petitioned the court for $27,000 more in child support and an additional $200,000 for her attorney’s fees.
Williams wed Drake-Lee, a real estate broker, in September 2012 after meeting when Williams was a New York schoolteacher. Williams filed for divorce in April 2017. Williams and Drake-Lee were granted joint legal custody in August 2017 and joint physical custody in March 2018. The agreement stated that Williams and Drake-Lee must alternate custody of the children for major holidays.
Yes, this makes me think of the Brad Pitt-Angelina dispute and how unhinged Team Pitt became at the mere suggestion that he wasn’t paying significant child support, and how it didn’t even matter because Angelina was making money too, etc. I guess men don’t realize that calculating child support is simple math for most courts, and that it’s usually a standard percentage of their income, regardless of everything else. Besides, in Aryn’s case, I think she’s a stay-at-home mom? And Jesse left her, and he needs to support her and the kids. So messy.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
He has gotten so much less attractive. If he’s making $500k a month, yeah 20% should go to the wife he abandoned and his child support. Suck it up buttercup.
IKR, his inner ugliness is really showing. He is really not attractive here. From the beard to the way he is dressing, ugh… not appealing in any way whatsoever. As a previous so-called “pretty boy,” he’s never really been my type (more attracted to masculine men who grow a beard and look manly not whatever this is?!?!?) but I used to be able to appreciate how others found him attractive. Here though, in that pic and dressed like that? No, just no. I mean, am I seeing the start of moobs (man boobs?) LOL.
I agree with everything you said Elizabeth Rose. He was never my type, but I could at least see that he was a nice-looking guy. Now, he’s reminding me of that felon-turned-“model” Jeremy Meeks. (who many people thought was so hot, but I always thought he was gross looking.) Jesse almost looks like he’s starting to have a druggy/meth-head look about him now. Like others have said, his inner ugliness is seeping to the surface. And yes, I think I do see a hint of some small moobs!
@K-Peace
You are so right with the Meeks comparison! He’s totally reminding me of him.
Hehehe… those moobs though. That’ll kill the attraction in a heartbeat esp. when the guy seems like a douche.
P.S. – I’m not usually so judgemental but he’s someone who has acted like he’s all that and could get away with this bad behaviour, so I think he’s deserving of some criticsm.
It’s almost like getting married and having kids are decisions that you really should think hard about before committing to them. Especially kids. You’ll ALWAYS be linked to the other person because of it – and you’ll be on the line financially (as you should) for them regardless of circumstances of a split or whether you don’t think you should be paying as much as you are.
Exactly – what is it with men that once they are divorced, they whine about supporting their children?
If Jesse had to pay 100k per month for two children, then imagine what Brad will end up having to pay for 6 children.
Deadbeat dad are the worst.
And Brad makes way more than Jesse.
So this guy is making +/- 6.2 million a year, and he’s complaining about $1.2 to support the children he chose to have and the wife he chose to leave. Suck it up dude. The only way it should get reduced is if his income drastically changes. Which, after all this bad publicity, may happen once Grey’s is done.
He looked at Pitt “payments” and said “What the hell?”
Pay the money and keep it moving. It will make his ex comfortable and she’ll be able to get about resurrecting her career in comfort which will keep it moving for everyone. He’s got the money and the split is more than fair.
Is this guy really making more money than Britney Spears per month? How much money is Kevin Federline asking for child support? $60k? I’m surprised it’s that high for Jesse Williams. I know he’s on Grey’s Anatomy but is that really more lucrative than Britney’s Vegas residency? I’m surprised.
I highly doubt he’s making what Britt Britt nets annually, but maybe Kevin isn’t asking 4 as much because his request is child support only. This is alimony and child support. The alimony only last a few years.
A forensic accountant? Does that indicate he was trying to under report his income?
Not a good look.
Doesn’t most of Britney’s money go her corporation/company and not to her personally? Maybe Jamie set it up her conservatorship so she only receives a small portion of money personally since he’d be in charge of paying all of her bills / expenses (as well as her kids’ expenses).
There were always people who have always commented on her “plain Jane” look but I guarantee her natural look is what almost every celeb looks like when the layers of heavy makeup is removed from their caked faces. If she wanted to look like something “more” she could have easily gotten her makeup done w professional MUA & dressed “hotter” for these appearances. But she wanted to be HER & there is NOTHING wrong w her! On top of being attractive she is also wildly smart. He was lucky to have her but he sold himself for shammy-glammy hollyweird, well, hope that bank was worth it!
He needs to stop this is not a good look for him, $100K seems high but based on his income it is not unreasonable especially since half of that (the alimony ) will fall off in a 2-3 years based on the short time they were actually married. Also if his income dips i.e Greys is cancelled he can always renegotiate these sums
Whilst I am # teamaryn and think she should get paid , I was a bit surprised at the ruling, simply because black women notoriously get the short end of the stick in family/divorce court specially when the hubby is a celeb , I cant help but wonder if the judge involved is a conservative who is biased against him because of his outspokenness on certain issues
As a parent and mother, I think you shouldn’t have children if you can’t support them on your own whether the father is involved or not. To me these women seem like they’re treating their kids as their meal tickets. I work and I raise my kids. It’s hard but it’s what you gotta do because you love and care for your kids. That being said I’ve had ups and downs with my spouse (the father of my kids). He does his share of the upbringing of our kids. But during the times that we were apart. I didn’t expect him to financially support me and our kids. I’m an adult. I work and support myself and my kids.
Completely disagree – the fathers have to pay 50 percent of the children’s welfare in my opinion.
Just because the parents are divorced, it doesn’t mean that the children aren’t his anymore.
If the fathers cannot pay their support then don’t gage children. You bought into the world and you pay your share in the upbringing.
Yes, some women do view motherhood as a meal ticket but that is not the case here. She was the breadwinner in their relationship when they met and supported him completely while he tried to make it in Hollywood. She then gave up her career in order to support his when he started working as he had to travel, work long hours, etc. She was his number one supporter and rock which he said multiple times. But now he thinks he is Gods gift to women and he thought he needed some hot, young chick. They agreed to raise their children with her as the primary caregiver before the divorce as she was a stay at home mom. Now he wants to blast the women who supported him, belived in him and helped get him to where he is now. He should be financially responsible for their family at this time, just as she was for a long time. Women who are stay at home moms may not support thier families financially but do so in other ways.
I see the practicality of what you said, but I think inadvertently it lets men off the hook for their responsibility to be able to provide for the children as well. So many men nowadays really do think, well the mother makes enough to raise them (or even more than the father, which really magnifies the resentment of paying child support) so they think there’s really no wrong in avoiding child support. After all, the kids are being taken care of, right? Because the mother has to take it upon herself to work extra hard, forgoing more time with her children, in order to bear the financial burden alone.
Ok…but what if you had been a stay at home when you and your spouse separated? Because that’s what we’re talking about.
Glad your personal situation worked out for you but let’s not forget the reason child support & alimony guidelines were put into place – to protect women & children!
I do not agree with this at all. No one enters into a marriage thinking they shouldn’t have kids on the off chance that it will end in a divorce. Who does that? She was supporting him for years while he chased his dream. I believe she was a successful real estate agent. So now he’s famous and they have kids and she had to give up her career to have a family, it’s too bad so sad? I think she deserves every penny the court gave her. She sacrificed her livelihood to have a family and she was supporting him for years. She got thanked for all that when he left to chase some has been actress.
If the top picture is how he currently looks then that’s karma. He has totally lost the hotness.
He really has – he used to be very attractive.
You are doing your children a disservice when you allow their other parent to opt out of supporting them financially. They are entitled to financial support from both parents, and if you “don’t need” the money because you’re capable of covering their needs by yourself, you can always put the money in the bank for the future. Both parents have the obligation to support their kids, and when a stay-at-home parent is blindsided with divorce, they are also entitled to support to allow them to get back on their feet and build or resume a career.
She was the one with the career working while he decided to go after his dream of acting. His ex wive was the one supporting them. She deserves every dime and more
That entire paragraph applies to Kevin Federline as well. Just because he’s the father doesn’t mean this is any different: Calculating child support is simple math for most courts, and that it’s usually a standard percentage of their income, regardless of everything else.
Also, everyone screeched about Kevin getting a job. Flip THIS around, and it’s all 100% true: [h]e’s a stay-at-home [dad] … [S]he needs to support [him] and the kids.
Britney makes far more than Jesse Williams and Kevin is entitled to the same calculations of support as Ayrn.
@Molly This is not apples to apples. I suspect you are trying to make some point about double standards but it doesn’t fit in your comparison. A better comparison would be Halley Berry’s ex Gabriel Aubrey. He also left his career. Kevin Federline is trying to support four additional children and a wife on what he gets from Brittney. Do you really think that Brittney should have to support his family forever because she made the bad decision to marry and procreate with Kfed.
Kevin has a bunch of other kids, including 2 he decided to have after Britney. Plus his kids with her are older and in school all day. The children in this family are very young, I think? Not school aged.