The custody case between actress Jaime King – a longtime friend of Taylor Swift’s – and estranged husband Kyle Newman took another turn Monday, as a judge made a bold order in the long-running legal affair.
The judge awarded Newman, a 49-year-old director, sole physical custody of their two young sons James Knight, 11, and Leo Thames, nine, People reported after reviewing court docs on Monday.
The situation peripherally involves superstar singer Taylor Swift, 35, a stalwart confidante of King’s who was named godmother to Leo in March of 2015.
The two boys with live with Newman, who will have final say on legal custody while the pair will share custody on paper amid the contentious case.
The judge said King, 45, must have her visits with her sons supervised until she finishes a mandated drug/alcohol program that lasts around six months.
Dailymail.com has reached out to Newman for comment on the latest developments.
The custody case between actress Jaime King, 45, and estranged husband Kyle Newman, 49, took another turn Monday as a judge ordered Newman to have sole physical custody of their two young sons. King pictured in LA in 2022
Newman, a 49-year-old director, was awarded sole physical custody of their kids James Knight, 11, and Leo Thames, nine, People reported after reviewing court docs on Monday
The people approved in the supervisory role included her mother, sister, brother-in-law, and Newman’s brother Kevin, the outlet reported.
King, who played the role of Heather Vandergeld in the 2004 comedy White Chicks, has made repeated visits to court over the past five years with her ex-husband to litigate custody concerns.
Most recently, King – who has also been seen in movies such as 2009’s My Bloody Valentine and 2005’s Sin City – filed with the court for an emergency request.
King filed the request to alter the agreement they made in terms of child and spousal support two years prior, People reported.
King ‘lacks the ability to pay the support,’ her attorneys said in legal docs, while Newman said King had ‘been out of compliance with the court’s child and spousal support orders for well over a year.’
Newman told the court that King would not ‘sign a judgment’ in their divorce agreement; and that she did not have the legal right to ‘rescind’ any of the court’s orders, the outlet reported.
The former couple initially wed in 2007 at the Los Angeles-based mansion Greystone Park and Manor.
King in May of 2020 entered a court filing requesting a divorce to end the 13-year marital union.
Jaime King – a longtime friend of Taylor Swift’s – was pictured with the Shake It Off artist in 2020
King, 45, must have her visits with her sons supervised until she finishes a mandated drug/ alcohol program that lasts six months. Pictured in 2014 with Swift in LA
King concurrently filed paperwork with the court requesting a emergency motion toward custody and visitation-related issues, the outlet reported, as well as a petition to prevent domestic violence.
Amid the custody row, King said in May of 2020 that Newman had put together an ‘intervention’ for her four months earlier after informing family and friends she was having substance abuse issues.
King in legal docs said she went a facility so she could be tested and cleared as drug-and-alcohol free. She said that days in, she had been sent home after passing a substance abuse test.
King is ‘a chronic drug addict and alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge that she has a problem, let alone seek meaningful treatment for such problem,’ Newman said in his legal filing at the time.
Newman told the court in a filing that ‘several friends’ informed him that she had used narcotics during both of her pregnancies. He added that doctors told him that their son Leo ‘was also addicted due to her continued drug use.’
He said he ‘was devastated’ to learn at the same medical appointment ‘that Leo Thames had a congenital heart defect and would need surgery to survive as soon as he was born.’
Newman said in his court filing that on occasion, King had driven ‘under the influence’ with their children in the vehicle, People reported.
The former couple initially wed in 2007 at the Los Angeles-based mansion Greystone Park and Manor. Pictured in late 2019 in LA
King is ‘a chronic drug addict and alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge that she has a problem, let alone seek meaningful treatment for such problem,’ Newman said in 2020
King became ‘so intoxicated in front of them that they thought their mother was dying, and abandoning them for days at a time to get drunk and high instead of care for them.’
He added that ‘at one point, Jaime left Leo Thames at his doctor’s appointment with the nanny, only to be found over a half hour later at the liquor store across the street buying a bottle of alcohol.’
Swift was involved when Thames had to undergo the surgery, as the Grammy-winner donated a generous sum of money to the Los Angeles-based hospital Cedars-Sinai, King revealed in an August 2016 Instagram post.
King said that Swift ‘does so many selfless acts that go unnoticed because she does them silently, from such a great place of unconditional giving.’
King went into detail on her younger child’s health woes, writing, ‘Dear all- at 20 weeks our son was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries AKA TGA.’
King said that watching her youngest child undergo ‘a major heart surgery … was terrifying, and traumatic for us as parents, for our family.’
King and Swift posed together at an event in Beverly Hills in March 2014
King, who did not allude to any of the accusations Newman has made in the social media post, said that she and her then-spouse had kept the details close to their vest amid the difficult timeframe.
‘Only a few of our best friends knew. I felt that I had to protect him in fear of the unknown, fear he would not make it. We felt isolated & confused.’
King said that Swift – as ‘the Godmother of Leo Thames – made an ‘incredible donation to the people that saved his life’ at Cedar-Sinai, specifically the Congenital Heart Surgery unit led by Dr. Alistair Phillips.
King said that the lesson she learned was her famed friend was that it was important to provide support and spread awareness toward people in similar circumstances.
‘It made us realize that silence cannot connect other parents & people going through these issues,’ said King. ‘TS knew that by giving back in this way would be the greatest gift one could give to us, to Leo Thames and to all of those with congenital heart issues.
‘She came to the ICU to comfort us, to hold and bond with him with such grace & strength.’
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