Ioan Gruffudds Custody Battle Sparks Controversy

sought to send his teenage daughter Ella to a 'therapeutic boarding school' after an ugly clash with him and his girlfriend during a custody visit.

He had been seeking custody of both daughters but dropped this after a row in 2023 with his child, then 13 years old, who allegedly called Wallace a 'slut' and wrote the word 'f***' in mustard on his kitchen countertops and poured milk on his bed.

After the incident he said he only wanted Elsie, then nine years old.

Ella – who applied for a restraining order against her father and girlfriend after her arm was caught in a slamming door – told a court soon after that she had been 'so upset.'

She added that her father had called her 'narcissistic' 'abusive' and 'manipulative' which he denied. Gruffudd did say, though, that he believed Ella was 'in need of urgent mental health care.' Ella's request for a restraining order was not granted.

The allegation about the boarding school is contained in a trial brief prepared by lawyers for , the ex wife of the Fantastic Four actor. A nine day trial will start on February 23rd.

In the filing, Ms Evans' lawyer writes: 'Although Petitioner initially requested 50/50 physical custody of the children, after a domestic violence incident between Ella and Petitioner's new partner, Bianca Wallace, Petitioner amended his request to seek that Ella be sent to a therapeutic boarding school and requested sole physical custody of Elsie.'

Evans has had 100 per cent custody of the children after a subsequent custody report and Ioan Gruffudd has had no visits with them.

In their filing, Ioan Gruffudd's lawyers say: 'Alice's intentional and extensive social media campaign to damage Ioan's earning capacity as an actor and over her jealousy of his wife Bianca Gruffudd have poisoned and alienated the girls' once-healthy relationship with their father. Ioan is currently unable to safely exercise any visitation with them and consequently he has zero time share for purposes of child support calculation.'

Her trial brief indicates that she will be calling Dr Suzanne Dupee, who produced a custody report at Ioan Gruffudd's request, as a witness.

Gruffudd is seeking to renew a restraining order or DVRO which was put into place in 2022 after Alice Evans sent hundreds of abusive messages to her husband.

He claims that actress Evans has engaged in 'persistent and extensive domestic abuse of Ioan' since then, she says that she has not.

The filing says: 'Petitioner's allegation of ongoing apprehension of harassment is simply not reasonable or credible. Alice has a social media following of fans. She has made statements on social media about the fact that she was being evicted from her former apartment for failure to pay rent and that she was stressed about money issues.

'Alice did not mention Petitioner or Ms. Wallace. The statements are not harassment. They are merely statements made by Alice about her life and current circumstances.'

Her lawyers say that he and Wallace are 'obsessed' with 'chasing the nuisance' and that she has not breached the order since it was made.

The filing states: 'Dr. Dupee will testify regarding Alice's emotional state during the time period that she sent the messages to Petitioner that pre-date the DVRO. Alice was in a fight or flight state when she sent the messages in 2021 and 2022. Alice was mourning the sudden loss of her marriage, and dealing with the stress of a very public divorce and very public announcement of Petitioner's relationship with Ms. Wallace.

'She admits that she did not handle the grief and emotional upheaval well and has taken responsibility for her actions. Alice is now in a better place and has had no direct communication with Petitioner in years. Dr. Dupee will also testify regarding Alice's emotional state during the custody evaluation that took place in 2023-2024, and how Alice has healed from the trauma that caused her to act out in 2021.

Evans pictured with their daughters, Ella, 16, and Elsie, 12. Gruffudd is only only seeking custody of Elsie, while Ella applied for a restraining order against her father and girlfriend