Custody Battles

Tennis superstar Victoria Azarenka -- one of the best players in the world -- has finally broken her silence on the custody war that could force her to miss the US Open ... saying it's unfair that she has to choose between her job and her kid.

As we previously reported, Azarenka is at war with her baby daddy -- who filed custody papers in L.A. and the judge overseeing the case won't let Victoria take the kid out of the state while the trial rages.

Problem is ... the US Open starts on August 28 in NY -- but Azarenka says she REFUSES to leave her kid behind.

"Shortly after Wimbledon, Leo’s father and I separated and as we work to resolve some of the legal processes, the way things stand now is that the only way I can play in the US Open this year is if I leave Leo behind in California, which I’m not willing to do."

"No one should ever have to decide between a child and their career, we are strong enough to do both," Azarenka said.

Azarenka's attorney, Laura Wasser, recently told the judge the tennis star is more than willing to buy a plane ticket for the baby daddy and put him up in a hotel for the 2-week tournament, but the judge said no.

Still, Victoria is holding out hope that the two sides can reach an amicable resolution.

Jesse Williams' wife says he is a reckless parent who has fits of rage and worries he exposes their kids to a "revolving door" of women ... this according to new, explosive divorce docs.

Aryn Drake-Lee has unloaded on the "Grey's Anatomy" star, demanding sole custody for a variety of reasons. She says the children are being emotionally compromised because Jesse has exposed them to at least one intimate partner and possibly more. She wants the judge to order him to keep girlfriends away from the kids until he dates them for 6 months.

Aryn goes on, claiming Jesse has a violent temper and cites a road rage incident last month with his next-door neighbor. She says after an argument the neighbor flipped off Jesse, and he then "aggressively pursued him in his car" with their 2 kids inside. She says Jesse threatened to kill him.

She's also pissed off that Jesse posts pics of their kids on social media and says he's doing it as a "buffer for the negative talk about him in the media."

As we reported, it appears Jesse is dating Minka Kelly and that might be behind some of her fury. Jesse has insisted his 13-year relationship and 5-year marriage didn't end because of a "cute girl."

Tennis superstar Victoria Azerenka is furious a judge has given her a real-life Sophie's choice -- tennis or her kid -- that is making her drop out the US open.

The former #1 player in the world is locked in a nasty dispute with Billy McKeague -- the father of her 8-month-old son, Leo. The two split back in July.

Here's the problem ... McKeague filed custody papers in L.A. (where Victoria has a home) and the case has gone to a judge who told Azerenka she's not allowed to take the child out of California while the custody trial rages ... and it's not going to end until October at the earliest.

The dilemma -- the US Open kicks off August 28 in New York. Victoria will not leave her child -- whom she's been breastfeeding until a month ago -- with McKeague because she doesn't believe he's capable of caring for the kid.

Her attorney, "Disso Queen" Laura Wasser, told the judge her client is more than willing to buy a plane ticket for McKeague and put him up in a hotel for the 2-week tournament, but the judge said no.

Wasser also told the judge her client already has a valid custody order from Belarus, the country where Victoria, Leo and and Billy are all residents, so it should be game, set, match. But for some reason the judge won't defer to the Belarus court.

Zoe McLellan gave her ex-husband, J.P. Gillain, only 2 days' notice before she flew to Canada with their young son for a role alongside Kiefer Sutherland ... but she says she had no choice.

McLellan is embroiled in a custody war again with Gillain. They have joint custody of 4-year-old Sebastian. McLellan says she was recently offered a gig on "Designated Survivor" and had to be in Toronto STAT to film ... but wouldn't go without Seb.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, McLellan says she's the primary parent, adding Gillain can't support the lifestyle she offers their son. That's why she claims he needs to be with mom while she films for a year ... but she says she'll help out with dad's travel costs so he can come visit.

For his part, Gillain says his ex-wife basically held a gun to his head, demanding he consent to the move and agree to work out a new custody deal. He also argues she can't uproot their kid just because she gets a new role, arguing Seb needs stability and continuity.

Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian are close to wrapping negotiations on a custody agreement for their daughter, Dream, and the big revelation from the talks so far -- Chyna's killing it financially.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... neither Rob nor BC has requested child support from the other ... yet. If that changes though, Rob would likely be the one asking for a couple of reasons.

First, Rob has Dream more often than Chyna -- we're told that's always been the case. Second, she makes way more money than he does. We're told Rob banks very little on his own outside of the family reality show. Chyna, on the other hand, makes huge chunks of change on appearances and hosting gigs.

So, even if custody ends up being a 50/50 split ... there's at least the possibility Rob could eventually go after her for support. But right now, that's not on the table, and we're told they're close to reaching a settlement.

Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida's long, drawn-out divorce case is finally over ... they've reached a settlement that includes a parenting plan.

You'll recall the huge hang-ups were spousal support and how they'd split property. She was adamant they had an ironclad prenup but he wanted the judge to toss it out. The agreement is confidential so it's unclear who got what.

They also struck a custody agreement -- they'll share joint legal custody and Phaedra will have primary physical custody. Makes sense -- Apollo's serving prison time for money fraud.

Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna may be at war with each other, but we've learned they're in lockstep when it comes to co-parenting 8-month-old Dream.

Sources close to mom and dad tell us Rob and Chyna have been operating under an unwritten arrangement where they each are entitled to physical custody 50% of the time. We're told the arrangement has been "loose by consent" and recently Rob has had the kid 4 days a week and Blac Chyna picks up the remaining 3. The staff of nannys/baby nurses are always present.

Our sources say they have had no problem on co-parenting, which includes child-rearing decisions. Somehow they have been able to wall off their personal beef.

We're also told Rob and Blac Chyna have no plan to go to court and ask a judge to make a formal child custody order, although we are told they will probably memorialize the arrangement in writing.

BTW ... during Monday's hearing, when Chyna got a restraining order against Rob, he had the kid.

Blac Chyna got the restraining order she sought against Rob Kardashian ... and she celebrated outside court with her attorneys.

Chyna was flanked by Lisa Bloom and Walter Mosley as they laid out the terms of the restraining order. Rob is now barred from any further cyberbullying of Chyna -- including posting photos or videos of her, or making any personal comments about her. He also has to stay away from her.

Rob was not in court, but his attorney, Robert Shapiro, was ... and also spoke briefly to the media after the hearing. As we first reported, Shapiro did not contest the restraining order ... and said Rob is just interested in doing what's best for their daughter, Dream.

Rob Kardashian will not fight Blac Chyna in court Monday ... we've learned he will agree to the restraining order she is seeking against him.

Rob's lawyer, Robert Shapiro, tells TMZ, Rob's cyberbullying last week was "a spontaneous reaction that he regrets."

We're told Shapiro will appear on Rob's behalf and immediately tell the judge there is no need for a hearing because Rob has no interest contesting her request for a restraining order that prohibits him from posting personal information about her and intimate photos as well.

Rob Kardashian's lawyer will appear in court Monday morning and tell the judge ... his client will voluntarily refrain from attacking/bullying Blac Chyna on social media.

Sources connected with Rob tell us, he'll be represented by Robert Shapiro of OJ Simpson fame, and Shapiro will not oppose the TRO ... mostly because they are routinely granted when the alleged victim claims violence. As we reported, Chyna says Rob got physical with her back in April.

We're told Shapiro's main reason for showing up on Rob's behalf is to discuss custody arrangements involving Dream.

Our sources say Shapiro will attempt to assure the judge Rob will not post intimate pics of Chyna, nor will he post her medical or other personal information. And ... no more slut shaming.

There is a wild card ... whether Shapiro raises a First Amendment issue about restricting Rob's use of social media.

Jesse Williams' hopes for an amicable divorce just went down the toilet ... he's now in a nasty custody fight with his estranged wife.

The "Grey's Anatomy" star filed docs saying he went above and beyond to informally handle custody issues with Aryn Drake-Lee. Jesse filed for divorce back in April and we were told things were civil. But Jesse says it's now turned into a legal war.

In docs obtained by TMZ, Jesse's asking to get more time with 3-year-old Sadie and 2-year-old Maceo, claiming Aryn only lets him see them shy of 3 hours a day and she refuses to allow sleepovers.

Jesse says he rented a home less than 3 miles from Aryn's home so he could be close to the kids. To prove he's a hands-on dad, Jesse listed their nicknames and their favorite food -- mac & cheese for "Sadie Munchkin" and "anything we put in front of 'Mace.'"

Keshia Knight Pulliam says her trip to accompany Bill Cosby at his trial was totally on the up and up -- and she has emails to prove her ex knew it ... despite his claim she broke their custody deal.

Keshia filed docs calling BS on Ed Hartwell, who accused her of bailing on his supervised visit with their daughter ... so she could be with Cosby in Philly. She says the fact is ... NO visit was scheduled.

According to the docs ... Ed never reserved the site where the supervised visits happen. He's required to do so 1 week ahead of time, and when Ed didn't reserve it for June 6 ... Keshia made other plans. She added, Ed knew full well she was going to Philly and had no objections.

Keshia also attached a June 4 email sent to Ed, reminding him there'd be no visitation because he didn't reserve the site.

We broke the story ... Ed filed docs claiming Keshia violated their child custody agreement to be with Cosby on day 1 of his trial.

Stephen Belafonte bitched photogs were getting shots of his daughter during his monitored visits, but his plea to change the location for those visits was shot down.

The judge decided to keep things status quo after Mel B's estranged husband pointed out photos of their 5-year-old daughter, Madison, hiding her face. Belafonte's attorney said the pics were taken outside the building where he meets Madison.

The judge felt the pics weren't enough evidence the child was being harmed, and added ... if there was a throng of paps things could be different.

Later this month, another hearing is set where Belafonte will try to convince the judge he needs emergency spousal support. As we reported, he claims he's broke and couch surfing with friends.

Keshia Knight Pulliam's decision to escort Bill Cosby into his sexual assault trial was not only selfish, it violated a court order in her child custody agreement ... according to her ex himself.

In new legal docs, Ed Hartwell says he only gets to see their daughter, Ella Grace, for one hour twice a week, but Keshia traveled out of state with her to be by Cosby's side on day 1 of the trial. Hartwell says she trampled his visitation rights because he was supposed to get Ella on Tuesday, but apparently Keshia was still out of town.

Hartwell says Pulliam's in contempt and wants a make-up visit with his girl, pronto. He also wants her to cover all court and lawyer fees for this. Of course, Keshia recently called out Ed, claiming he's behind on child support payments.

The saga continues.

Scott Disick is going to have a problem if he wants to see his kids, because we're told Kourtney won't let him near them until he cleans up his act.

Sources close to Scott and Kourtney tell us he is off the rails again ... abusing alcohol and other substances. We're told she will not allow Scott visitation of their 3 kids until he gets clean and sober ... something we're told he refuses to do.

This wouldn't be the first time Kourtney laid down the law. Back in 2015, she made him persona non grata at her gated community, putting him on the "do not enter" list at the security gate. Scott went an entire month without seeing his children.

We're told Scott's friends have tried to intervene to no avail. A few weeks ago they got Kourtney to call Scott and plead with him to get help, but he wasn't having it.

Stephen Belafonte will get to see the daughter he had with Mel B, but under very strict terms laid out by a judge.

Belafonte and his attorneys were in court Monday trying to get unmonitored visitation with 5-year-old Madison. Mel B's restraining order requires him to stay away from her and all of her children.

The judge ruled he can see Madison, but it will be with a court monitor present -- and will take place in a pre-determined counseling center in Los Angeles. Belafonte must attend alone for the 4 hour visits, twice a week.