Rutherford Gets Custody
After two days of testimony, a judge has awarded Kelly Rutherford of Gossip Girl temporary custody of her son. Rutherford, who is four months pregnant, is fighting her husband for custody in a nasty divorce battle. Her husband, German entrepreneur Daniel Giersch, claims Rutherford’s acting schedule in New York is too demanding. Giersch claims he has been the primary caregiver and wanted their son to stay in Los Angeles, while Rutherford filmed in New York through March. However, a judge ruled today, “to leave Hermes (their son) in Los Angeles with Rutherford’s estranged husband, Daniel Giersch, would be removing the child from his mother “cold turkey,” which would be harmful to Hermes,” according to People.
During the custody hearing this week, both Rutherford and Giersch made claims of abusive behavior by the other in court. Rutherford has said she is afraid of Giersch and also feared he would flee the US and take their son to Germany. Meanwhile, Giersch claims that his son is being withheld from him and he hasn’t been allowed to spend the night with him.
According to TMZ, the judge also awarded Giersch, “two overnight visits per week for the month of February and three per week for March. They all need to come back to L.A. for a minimum of four days, at least twice. During the L.A. stays, Hermes will alternate between the two parents.”
In a situation like this it appears both parties are more about control then what is in their child’s best interest. It is interesting that Rutherford is claiming she fears Giersch, yet clearly not so much that it prevented her from having another child with him since she is currently pregnant. And the same thing for Giersch - his claims of what a horrible mother Rutherford is ring hollow given the fact that he obviously didn’t think having another child with her was a bad idea. It will be interesting to see if these two can let the drama go and work out an agreement regarding custody.