Custody Battles

Jesse Williams and estranged wife Aryn Drake-Lee have reached an agreement in their divorce ... at least temporarily on the subject of custody of their 2 children ... and there's an indirect connection to Minka Kelly.

The warring couple will share joint legal custody ... which means all decisions made regarding the health, welfare and upbringing will be made between the 2 of them.

The agreement, obtained by TMZ, provides neither parent can make derogatory remarks about the other in front of the children. They also can't use the children as messengers.

And, the agreement provides that neither Jesse nor Aryn "shall introduce a person with whom he or she has a romantic relationship to the children until the relationship has endured at least 6 months."

The agreement does not break down the physical custody arrangement.

TMZ broke the story ... Jesse has been linked to Minka Kelly.

Jesse Williams' ex is hellbent on making sure he doesn't post photos of their kids on social media, and says his claim he has a First Amendment right to do it ... is total BS.

In new docs, Aryn Drake-Lee says Jesse's Instagram posts threaten their kids' welfare and safety. She points out Jesse has some 2.2 million followers and she's worried some might be volatile and obsessive fans who could harm their kids in an effort to get closer to Jesse.

Aryn previously raised this issue, claiming he's only touting the kids on IG for empathy. Jesse fired back he was exercising his First Amendment right -- but Aryn points out their children are not public figures and have their own rights.

She also says Jesse can't vouch for the mental state of his followers. To be clear, Aryn's cool with Jesse sharing pics with family and friends ... it's the public randos who concern her.

Mel B is accusing her ex of putting media exposure ahead of their children's well-being, and now she wants her legal battle with him sealed from the public.

Mel filed docs asking the court to seal her ongoing domestic violence case against Stephen Belafonte because it's attracting so much media attention, it's harming her kids.

Mel says reporters and photographers are waiting whenever she drops off their daughter to visit Stephen, and suspects he's alerting media to the visitation schedule. She says, "While [Stephen] may enjoy the media attention, the minor child of this marriage did not ask to be placed in the center of this mounting storm."

Sources connected to Belafonte tell us he absolutely denies exploiting the case or giving the media a heads up.

In the docs, Mel also says testifying about the alleged abuse in open court would be "further abuse" against her.

A hearing's set for next month for the judge to decide whether to seal the case.

Jesse Williams is firing back at his estranged wife's claim he's not involved enough as a parent -- saying, essentially, she only gets to be at home with the kids because HE has to bring home the bacon.

Jesse filed docs responding to Aryn's allegations ... and says she has the "incredible privilege of being a stay-at-home mom with a full-time nanny" ... purely because he's putting in hard work every day. In the docs, he goes on to say Aryn is punishing him for providing for his family.

The punishment? He says Aryn restricts and "micro manages" the time he gets to spend with their 2 children since their split. He says his FaceTime calls to them frequently go unanswered, and when Aryn does answer ... she sometimes leaves the TV on to distract the kids.

As for Aryn's claims Jesse bullies her ... he says the only aggression the children have witnessed is Aryn screaming at him. According to the docs, Aryn once repeatedly slammed the front door on Jesse's leg while yelling at him.

We spoke with Aryn's lawyer, Jill Hersh, who tells us "it is a shame that Mr. Williams chose to place the children and his family's transition in the public domain."

Hersh added, "Aryn has been working tirelessly to maintain Mr. Williams' bond with their children and it is important to remember that his one-sided allegations are made with a specific goal in mind. The judge is fully informed on both sides and will be making the final decision."

Worth pointing out ... Hersh's comment is an almost word-for-word duplication of comments Jesse's team made in response to Aryn's filing last week.

Jon and Kate Gosselin got into such a heated argument over their kids, cops had to show up to sort things out.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... officers in Wyomissing, PA responded Tuesday to a dentist's office to handle an argument Jon and Kate were having over one of their 8 children.

We're told one of the parents took the kid to the dentist, but the ex-reality stars/exes got into it over who'd be taking her home. An argument erupted over the custody order.

As we reported ... that deal of theirs -- settled more than 7 years ago -- is under wraps, but involves both parents having some sort of shared custody.

Jon ended up taking the kid with him, and cops told the pair to take up their gripes with a judge. Nobody was arrested in the incident.

Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna tried resolving their custody war Friday in a lawyer's office building, but there were clearly hard feelings at the end of the day because Chyna tried hightailing it out in Rob's whip ... so claim 2 eyewitnesses.

Here's what happened. Chyna and her team of 5 lawyers, including Lisa Bloom, showed up at the Century City law offices of Laura Wasser, who reps Rob. They spent hours inside but, according to Bloom, nothing has been resolved.

We're told Rob had someone call ahead to have his car pulled up to the valet stand, but he wanted to wait until Chyna left. According to witnesses, a visibly agitated Chyna came along, saw the Range Rover, got inside and prepared to hightail it away from the building.

We're told one of her lawyers told her, "That's not a good idea," and with the help of a valet, they got Chyna out of Rob's whip.

Bloom tells TMZ Chyna did not try to drive away in the Range Rover and did not get inside. Bloom did say, however, that Chyna was "agitated" when she saw the Ranger Rover because she had given it to Rob as a gift. Rob gave Chyna a Ferrari and a Lambo, both of which she returned to him when they broke up, but Rob kept the Rover.

Bloom said Chyna had some "choice words" when she saw the Range Rover, but that was it.

Robin Thicke and Paula Patton just hammered out a custody deal for their 7-year-old son so the war is over.

According to legal docs filed in their custody case, Julian Fuego will split time between Robin and Paula. He gets Julian Monday through Wednesday and she gets him Wednesday through Friday. They alternate weekends. The exes agreed to share expenses, including private school. They also hammered out a vacation and holiday schedule.

TMZ broke the story ... Paula got a restraining order against Robin after Julian complained to school officials his dad used excessive physical force. She even accused Robin of trying to influence a court-appointed monitor with free sushi ... which Robin denied.

So ... double good news for Robin.

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.