Gossip Maven Kelly Rutherford's Custody Battle Boils Over

Tue., Jan. 13, 2009 7:22 AM PST by Gina Serpe

Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com

Gossip Girl's got nothing on Kelly Rutherford's real-life drama.

Just one week after the teen-soap vet filed for divorce from David Giersch, Rutherford filed emergency papers in Los Angeles Superior Court Jan. 9 seeking to ban her estranged huband from leaving the country, saying she fears he may try to disappear with their 2-year-old son.

"I feel there is some risk that he will leave the country with Hermes and I will not know where they are," the 40-year-old actress said in her declaration. (View the document)

Adding to the way-past-acrimonious custody battle are Rutherford's new allegations that the 34-year-old Giersch, who is not a U.S. citizen, "has a history during our marriage of getting angry with me and leaving without telling me where he is going."

Giersch, an entrepreneur, countered Rutherford with a filing of his own, painting an even less flattering picture of his missus.

Giersch said Rutherford, who is currently four months pregnant with the duo's second child, has an equally bad, and physical, temper: "[She] has tried to hit me with an open fist when she's had an angry outburst. On July 6, she threw a laptop computer at me while we were in Hamburg. She smashed the computer on the table and it broke."

Giersch also claimed that Rutherford's bicoastal, work-oriented lifestyle was the single driving reason behind their split and voiced strong opposition to the idea of the actress taking her son with her on location.

"I have been extremely concerned about our son living in a hotel and a New York lifestyle, and this has been one of the main reasons, if not the reason for the ending of [Rutherford's] and my marriage."

He also claims that it is him, not her, who acts as Hermes' primary caretaker.

"[Rutherford's] routine is that she has weekly hair appointments for at least two hours, manicures, pedicures, shopping and the like. She has been able to do all of that because I have been taking care of Hermes, and am happy to continue doing so, as it would be best for him."

While both parties are seeking sole legal and physical custody with monitored visitation for the other, a judge has denied Rutherford's latest motion to travel with Hermes for work.

A subsequent hearing on the matter has been set for Jan. 21.