Olivia Wilde has slammed her ex-husband, fellow actor Jason Sudeikis, after he served her with custody papers during a live event in front of over 4,100 people in April.
The 38-year-old actress had been involved in a bitter custody battle with Sudeikis, 46, with whom she shares two young children. She recently filed documents at the family court to keep their children, aged 8 and 5, based in Los Angeles.
Court filings obtained by the Daily Mail have shown that Wilde, who was at a CinemaCon event to promote her new directorial project in April, accused her former spouse of trying to "embarrass" her in the "most aggressive manner possible."
The former couple got engaged in 2013 after dating for almost two years. When their relationship ended, Wilde reportedly began dating pop sensation Harry Styles after the pair met filming Wilde's upcoming psychological thriller, Don't Worry Darling.
Sudeikis and Wilde had initially been co-parenting after they called their nine-year relationship quits in 2020. However, it appears that the amicable arrangement took a nasty turn after the parents were unable to reach an agreement over where their two children would be permanently raised.
It is then that Sudeikis decided to have Wilde served with custody papers.
The papers, which came in a manila folder with "Private and Confidential" printed on the front, were presented to Wilde in Las Vegas while she was speaking to 4,100 industry professionals about her new film.
While the couple had originally settled on sending their children to school in Los Angeles, Sudeikis decided he wanted to change this arrangement.
Since wrapping filming of AppleTV's Ted Lasso, which required Sudeikis to be in London, the actor expressed a desire to be in New York. Wilde revealed that he wanted the children, Otis and Daisy, to be with him there.
"Jason decided that he wanted to go to New York for the next year while he is not working, and wanted the children to be with him there during this time off," Wilde said in the court filings.
"When I did not agree, since the children have not lived in New York for several years, Jason filed these papers," the actress continued. She argued that the children have spent the past few years living in either LA or London and have even attended schools in both places.
Last week, a judge denied Sudeikis' petition to have his children with him in New York, saying: "This court finds that New York does not have jurisdiction to hear the custody petitions as New York is not the home state of the subject children."
Sudeikis has recently addressed the incident, saying he didn't want to serve Wilde the papers at Styles' residence or at the children's schools and that he had no knowledge of the time and place the documents would be served.
"I understand that the process server had only done her job; however, I deeply regret what happened. Olivia’s talk was an important event for Olivia, both professionally and personally, and I am very, very sorry that the incident marred her special moment," he stated.
