I was pretty much over the neverending divorce/custody drama between Jesse Williams and Aryn Drake-Lee back in January. That was when Jesse and Minka called it quits, after he basically left his wife (Aryn) because he was fooling around with Minka. Since then, Jesse has been dating different women. Last week, Page Six reported that his latest girlfriend is Taylor Rooks, the anchor of SportsNet New York. Sources claim Jesse has “found solace” with Taylor but they’re trying to keep it quiet because of his “difficult divorce.” As for the difficult divorce… it is. And it’s still happening. Aryn and Jesse are in court more often than Robert Mueller. The biggest fight is about custody of their children and the child support Jesse is paying to Aryn. And now they’re back in court, and Jesse is arguing that Aryn doesn’t need all the money she’s requesting:
In new court documents obtained by E! News, Jesse Williams asks his ex-wife’s request for increased child support be denied. Earlier this year, the couple was granted joint custody of their two children, Sadie Williams, 4, and Maceo Williams, 2. Williams, who currently pays Drake-Lee $50,695 per month in spousal support, states in the documents that she “exaggerates many of our expenses and the children’s needs, while also lumping her personal expenses as expenses for the children.”
The actor says his former spouse has inflated their children’s financial demands, including her request for $25,000 per month in college savings. Williams states in the documents, “We agreed that our children should live a simple life without wasting money on extravaganza,” citing Ikea furniture, home-cooked meals and low-cost family gatherings as proof of their lifestyle.
Additionally, the 36-year-old volunteers to pay 100 percent of the children’s private school tuition.
“A constant theme throughout our divorce proceedings has been Aryn marginalizing me as a father and frustrating my custodial timeshare with the children,” Williams adds in the documents. “Aryn continues to engage in this type of behavior and punish me for having a career and working hard to provide for our family.”
I laughed at the $25,000-a-month figure for JUST college savings. I know college costs have gone up, but $300,000 a year JUST for college savings? Anyway, as for the rest of it… I feel similarly to this as I do with Kevin Federline: if Jesse Williams is making a significant amount of money where he can easily afford $70K-a-month-plus in child support/college savings/school costs, then that’s what needs to happen. The thing is, I don’t think Jesse can afford it? I think that’s what this is about – it’s not that Jesse wants Aryn to raise the kids around humble Ikea furniture, it’s that she’s bleeding him dry financially and he’s not making that much money.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She is losing her goodwill and any pity people had for her in the beginning
I agree. I read that she said the monthly support is not enough and she’s paying 100% of the bills herself. Huh?
Agreed. And he’s not saying he wants HER to buy Ikea furniture now that they’re not together, but rather that THEY lived humbly, e.g. buying Ikea furniture and making home-cooked meals.
My thoughts exactly. I felt bad for her at first, she’s always been bashed for her looks next to him(which is so wrong) and supposedly supported him while he was struggling as an actor, but this is getting to be too much. There’s no way he makes that much money and she needs to set aside her anger for the sake of their children and stop this BS. It would be good for her as well to try to let it go. Maybe he cheated maybe he didn’t, maybe they had a shitty marriage and they needed to split, maybe they had a great marriage and he’s just a cheating douche, whatever happened I’m sure she’s not entirely innocent either. It makes me sad for their young children.
50k per month is obscene. I’m not sure how one would even ask for more with a straight face… It IS possible that he’s a cheater who dumped her right after she had kids AND that she’s a greedy leech at the same time.
This is going to drag on forever. I hope the children walk away ok. Not sure what his income is, but 25k a no th per child for college is excessive. She’s angry and probably rightfully so, but this is dragging on and on..
I have firmly been on team Aryn but I do wish the two of them would put it away and remember that their children come first. Someday their kids are going to read about all of this.
She needs to find other ways to channel her anger. And not use her kids to do so.
I’m surprised the Court would entertain college savings– in my state, paying for college is not an issue the Court’s will touch as its a post-emancipation expense. also, I highly doubt he can afford that kind of support order given that it doesn’t seem like his career is at its peak. Further, the lifestyle they were living at the time also comes into play. If they didn’t live a $70k/month lifestyle during the marriage, then I don’t think she has grounds to demand that now just bc maybe his income could support it.
What does Jesse Williams even do? I’ve completely forgotten.
He’s on Grey’s. I imagine his salary is pretty high because he’s one of the main characters now. If Ellen Pompeo is making 20 million a year, I could easily see Jesse Williams making 6-7 million a year, if not more. Which makes $840,000/year in child support make “sense,” even if that seems astronomical and/or unreasonable to us.
Aryn seems smart, she probably realizes Grey’s is going to end in a season or two and wants to stock pile some cash while Williams is still a hot commodity.
I came to say exactly this: she’s getting the money while there is some, securing her children’s education.
I actually think this is what she’s doing. The amount she’s asking for is a lot but she may be thinking he won’t be making that kind of money when the show likely ends in a couple of years.
In the end, like with Federline, it’s up to the courts and they”ll have all the paperwork to make the rulings, so I’m more wait and see with both cases.
I was wondering the same. I must be an old lady who is out of touch or something..lol, I am googling him now..
He stars in a video game called Detroit: Become Human- that’s how he met Minka Kelly. Other than that -Kanye shrug-
I think she’s likely making this as difficult as possible for him, which may be kind of shitty, but honestly, why feel sorry for him? Think twice before you cheat and dick over the partner who supported you financially through your early years.
Yes I think this is more anger revenge on her part. But think about it, she supported him for years before he hit it big on Grey’s. She was the main breadwinner. I guess now she’s looking at this as it’s his turn to support her.
He looked so much cuter when he was younger. I think all the hotness left after Minka sucked him dry.
The kids are the only ones I feel sorry for in this scenario. Both parents are behaving irresponsibly, but I far less interest in sending sympathy his way than I do hers.
So don’t dump your wife if you don’t want her to tear you apart
More like, “Don’t act surprised or put out if your shitty actions are met in kind.” She’s being an asshole, but it’s his decision to screw around and walk out on her that started all of it.
I have seen nothing to support the narrative that she supported him while he was trying to make it as an actor. In fact, his profile on Wikipedia states he was employed as a high school teacher for six years after graduating from college. If he finished college in 2003 and worked for six years as a high school teacher while pursuing his acting goals, that would mean he quit teaching in 2009, when he got the full-time gig with Grey’s Anatomy.
She’s angry and has a right to be, but she needs to stop with the outrageous money demands. I don’t know that Grey’s Anatomy is going to be on for much longer and when his paycheck goes away, her support will be drastically reduced.
Also, I’ve seen no indication that he leads an extravagant lifestyle. It’s not like he’s living in a 20,000 square foot Bel Air mansion and expecting her to live in a condo in the valley.
She was a lawyer to his school teacher. Trust me, she was the breadwinner there, AND she gave up several years of career advancement when she became a stay at home mother. I don’t think her behavior is acceptable. I’m just saying I don’t feel bad for him. The kids are another story.
Sherry you may not realize it but high school teachers really don’t make much money at all. My sister-in-law teaches high school English and brings home maybe $35k a year. He definitely wasn’t the primary breadwinner being employed as a teacher.
Not being the main income, is not the same thing as being supported. A high school teacher salary may not that much, but people manage to raise families on those. so whether he was the primary breadwinner or not, he was doing his share. Plus, did they start working at the same time? Was she a lawyer in their early years, or a student? plus, even employed, not every lawyer is rich, depending on their position in the firm.
You say she had to let go of her job, because of his career. I do believe that lawyers are allowed in California, she could have worked there. Maybe she choose to become a stay at home mum, since they could afford it then.
Most articles I’ve read state she was a real estate agent. She’s not a doctor or lawyer unless she obtained a doctorate after he landed his Grey’s Anatomy job.
According to Google, he was probably making at least $55,000 as a high school teacher in Philadelphia before his big break in GA. I doubt she was making that much more than him as a real estate agent.
I don’t know where you’re finding these articles, because it’s just facts that Aryn was the more accomplished/richer of the two when they got together, and she put that aside to support Jesse when wanted to pursue acting and then eventually stayed home to take care of the kids while his acting career was heating up. Jesse I believed has referenced this story numerous times when talking about why he stayed with his wife in the early days when people would bash her for her looks. Idk if the downplaying of her career is propaganda his side has been pushing out in articles but it’s weird to have that come out suddenly.
@Janefr I assumed she became a stay at home mom seeing as how the kids were very young, and they needed at least one stable parental figure. Jesse’s an actor and they have unpredictable hours/schedules, and if Aryn were to continue her success in the lawyer field at the pace she was going she would’ve had to devote long hours and tons of mental effort as well.
@Lynnie – I have yet to find any articles claiming she’s an attorney. Every article I’ve seen refers to her as a real estate agent.
Again, I fully understand why she’s angry, but there comes a point when enough is enough. The children should always be the priority, not vindictiveness toward your ex-spouse.
In the end, those children will be the only ones to suffer for this ongoing battle.
She’s not an attorney. She’s a real estate agent. That was my misspeak.
You need to look up articles and studies about the long-term revenue loss for parents who give up their careers to raise children if you don’t think that’s a major sacrifice on their part.
Jesse was a teacher for several years of their marriage. Then he decided to get into acting. He has stated in his own words that he left teaching to pursue that dream, and she was helping to hold him down in that time. Since nobody jumps into multi-millions five minutes into their acting career, she presumably was the money maker during the start of his career. Which is FINE. That’s a valid deal between a couple if they come up with that agreement. But it does look really shitty if you let your partner take that risk, let her sacrifice potential career advancement to raise the children, hit it big, and then proceed to send a faltering marriage into failure through an obnoxiously public affair with an actress – and a white woman, with all the racial implications, at that. And he did all that shortly after a famous BET speech talking about the problems of black culture being misrepresented and appropriated
Do I think she’s being a petty asshole in this divorce? Absolutely. But I think he’s a f*cking idiot and brought this mostly down on himself. He spent 13 years with her. He should’ve known exactly what the fallout was going to look like. My point is not that I don’t feel bad for those kids. My point is that I don’t feel bad for his dumb ass. I don’t know how much more I can clarify that.
@Veronica – I don’t need to look it up. I’ve lived it. I stopped working when my first child was born almost 21 years ago. My youngest is now 14. We went through a tough time financially about 6 years ago and I needed to go back to work to keep food on the table and a roof over our head. I have a Bachelor’s degree and the only job I could get was as a cashier in a health food store.
I would not trade being able to be at home with my kids all these years, but it has taken a huge toll on my autonomy and ability to provide for myself and my kids should anything happen to my spouse. I would caution anyone thinking about doing so, to seriously reconsider or at the very least to work part-time in your field so that you leave a foot in the door.
+++
She’s likely still angry and bitter about everything that went down. She worked her ass off to support him while he built up his career only for him to leave her very publicly and messily. That being said, she’s being quite ridiculous here. That amount of money is excessive and completely unnecessary, not to mention the fact that he probably doesn’t have it. It’s time to settle this and move on for the sake of the children.
Agree. I’ve been on her side in this mess but she needs to think of her kids and wrap this up.
Honestly this is a genuine question after reading it on LSA.
Apparently he worked as a teacher for six years (so maybe until he was 26? 27?) and he got the Grey‘s gig when he was 28 or so. I always thought she supported him for +5 years or so but apparently there was only a short period between him working as a teacher and getting a steady job.
When did she financially support him for years? I’m not American (but I study teaching which is a 7-year-degree over here) so I’m genuinely asking if a public school teacher earns so little that he needs to be financially supported by his partner?
Honestly? Yes, depending on the area. Teachers are notoriously underpaid in some regions. But she also gave up her career to raise kids after he got famous, so she’s lost out on several years of promotions, experiences, and financial gains.
Yes, our teachers are paid horribly and most need second or third jobs (Uber, waitressing, etc) to get by and buy supplies for their classrooms. Having a doctor’s (or is she a lawyer? can’t remember) salary for their household would have been so vital.
teaching doesn’t pay well and think about the cost of living alone out there.
Thanks for replying!
I knew American teachers were underpaid but I’m really shocked it’s so bad some of them have to take another job. I’m actually speechless.
What? You are telling me he pays more than two times as much as Britney? I wouldn’t even think he would have that much..only know him from one show.
Some of that is spousal support.
That says more about how absurdly low Britney’s child support payments are, $20k a month is virtually unheard of at her level of income. No way a man would only be paying $20k a month if he was bringing in the kind of money she brings in.
Step 1 is for Jesse to stop going to TMZ every time he is upset about something in the divorce case…
A lot of divorced couples agree to make some sort of arrangement for college costs but where exactly are their kids going where they need $300k/ year as elementary students to get there?
Does Jesse really work enough to pay $50k in support?
I think they are still in love. I think Jesse probably fucked up and really hurt Aryn so she is getting back at him while he’s so hurt the relationship is over that’s he’s being a douche too.
Should’ve had a prenup
They were together before he hit it big. Also i don’t think pre-nups can involve child support.
I want to be on her side but I just can’t. I’m team kids, they deserve better than this. He’s gross and she’s dragging it out just to make his life difficult imo. Put your anger towards something productive and put your children first.
Yep.
So you will tell her to put her children first but not him, why? She takes care of their children the bulk of the time as Jesse has an odd schedule due to the fact he’s an actor. He’s pursuing his dreams, not just Greys, while she’s trying to figure out how to get back in the game. She made a lot of money selling real estate in New York, but agreed to move to California for greys. That was a huge financial loss for her.
She’s well educated and comes from a good family of educated people. She is far from being some gold digger. I don’t blame her for preferring that she have their kids with her instead of “with” Jesse, which means he wants to hire a nanny to care for them instead of their mother. What kind of father wants to place their kids with a nanny instead of them being with their mom?
They’ll need enough childcare when she gets her career back on track. Until she can work again at the same level, and around jesses schedule, she needs more money from him. It’s not forever but he’s fought her tooth and nail, since they started divorcing, for every dime. He’s not being fair to her or their kids, but keep telling her to put her kids first when she’s the one who takes care of them the most.
I think he might be able to just about afford it right now, but only because of Greys Anatomy. That show will end sometime in the near future and I think it’s pretty obviously his peak. He needs to be saving some money for his own future too.
Honestly I don’t balk at that amount for college, because again, he’s probably only got 2-3 years left where he’ll be able to afford anything like that. Might as well get the kids futures covered while he has the means. But everything else seems massively inflated. Either they’re living way way way above their means or she’s trying to take him for every cent he has.
In what world can an actor of his stature afford this??? I mean if he was a douchebag to her by all means, get some money. But you can’t take what isn’t there.
Just like Britney’s situation, both parties need to submit income and expense info, and let the courts work out what is fair.
If he’s making a lot of money, she and the kids are entitled to decent support payments. But the college money request is ridiculous.
Here’s the deal, the numbers seem big now, until he marries again and the second set of kids get all the stuff her kids were supposed to get. It happens all the time, especially if you don’t speak up early on in the process.
Jesse is where every divorced man is in this process-he’s carrying two households at the same time which is the nature of things, but for some reason, no one really prepares men for this. They always want the ex-wife to economize while they shell out on the new girlfriend. Here’s where it gets messy, I don’t know what her career is and how much money she’s making on her own, but she might not feel she has to economize. She’s been doing it for years.
That being said, they’re no longer together so she’s got to adjust. The moral of the story is girls, when you sacrifice (move cities/stay in a job you hate) to support your man, if he leaves you, you’ll end up at square one and have to start again. And when you open your mouth everyone will think you’re bitter. So, let you man do it on his own and you keep your shit. As my mother always said, “Baby, always have a plan B, and remember, your education will never get up one day and say it doesn’t love you anymore”.
I like your comment about the juggling the two households thing. Typical example of the have your cake and eat it too phenomena that’s a big reason why people cheat in the first place, and as a result are unprepared for the consequences.
Toooooooo true about your mom’s comments regarding education
Not to mention what happens after Greys. What if his next career opportunity takes him out of California? What if it involves constant travel? Is that fair to the kids or would it really be wiser for her to be the primary parent if she’s able to get a local job with steady income?
I think she needs to work, and she definitely needs reconcile herself with the fact that the marriage is over and that opportunity is lost, but I do get her anger and frustration. I watched my mother lose everything after the divorce, while my father treated the child support payments like an absolute burden. The difference in how we prepare men and women for the complexity of post-divorce family raising is staggering. I’m with you – ain’t nobody in the world you can trust enough not to fail you in the right set of circumstances. Always make sure there’s something you can fall back on.
HK9, your mom’s comment about education is pure gold.
He may never have this kind of high paying gig so she needs to get it now. I know she’s being tough but I can’t help but thinking he deserves everything she’s dishing out. All of it. He wasn’t exactly thinking of his kids when he publicly stepped out with Minka “not for the first time” Kelly. Surely they’ll read about THAT when they’re older too. And he certainly didn’t care that she was publicly humiliated in the process. Team Aryn.
Thank you! Everyone talking about feeling sorry for the kids isn’t bringing up how they’ll get to read about their father cheating in their mom. It’s always the woman’s fault, and always the woman’s place to give in and smooth things over.
Agreed! Team Aryn.
As many commenters have pointed out:
1) HE has stated numerous times that she supported him financially and emotionally in the pursuit of his dreams.
2) When THEY had children, SHE was the stay at home parent, which affected her long-term career and income trajectory.
3) HE cheated on HER and broke up their family. And it didn’t just affect her. Cheating is emotional abuse. And you can’t emotionally abuse your children’s mother without that affecting them.
4) And you can’t have a full-time job with long hours that sometimes takes you out of the country, and have an affair, and manage the emotional fall-out in your marriage from having an affair, AND have the bandwidth and headspace to be a great father to your children.
5) He likely has only a few years of steady income left before his career peak is over.
He wasn’t thinking of his children when he was doing all of that, then. But now, Aryn has to deal with the consequences of HIS actions. And she needs to think of the children’s futures when making these strategic court decisions.
Who needs more than 50K a month to live? Especially with joint custody? I hate when people use their kids for revenge,divorce proceedings go like this, clearly she’s trying to get back at him for his alleged cheating and not really thinking about the kids needs.
She could be trying to get what she can now that there is money. Chances are he won’t be making this kind of money again.
The kids are little, she could be socking it away for them to use for the next 20 years.
It’s what I’d do for my kids.
If he’s making a lot of money he has to pay a lot of money. Deal with it.