Evan Rachel Wood has reportedly given primary custody of her son to ex-husband Jamie Bell, according to court documents obtained by The Blast.
The Westworld actress, 35, has been in a custody dispute with her ex-husband, 37-year-old actor Jamie Bell, over their 9-year-old son, Jack. It stemmed from Wood feeling unsafe continuing to live in Los Angeles amid her abuse allegations against ex-boyfriend Marilyn Manson.
Here’s what we know…
The latest: On Thursday, The Blast reported that Wood and the Billy Elliot actor, who have been in a custody dispute for several years, agreed that their son will reside in L.A. with the British actor. Wood remains in Nashville, Tenn. where she relocated from L.A. after allegedly receiving threats related to her accusations against Manson. (Manson denied Wood’s abuse allegations.) She had been fighting to keep the boy out of L.A. for fear of his safety.
According to court docs obtained by the outlet, the former couple’s son will “primarily live with [Bell] in Los Angeles,” where he resides with his second wife and Fantastic Four co-star Kate Mara and their two young children (born in 2019 and 2022). “[Wood] shall have custody of Jack one (1) extended weekend per month from Friday, after school or 10:00 a.m.” Wood will also have custody on some holidays and school breaks.
Reps for Wood and Bell have not yet responded to Yahoo’s request for comment about the custody change.
Long-running dispute: Wood and Bell started dating in 2005 for about a year. They rekindled their romance in 2011, married in October 2012 and welcomed their son in 2013. By 2014, they had split. In 2016, Wood talked about co-parenting, saying it involved her and her ex putting aside their “issues.”
That same year, Wood revealed that she was the survivor of sexual assault, but did not reveal the identity of her abusers. While it was five more years before she publicly accused Manson, she started getting threats, which she claimed were from the singer’s fans, and feared he might retaliate, according to an interview she gave the The Cut in 2022. Wood claimed she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on security at her L.A. home, including installing bulletproof-glass windows, a steel door and a security fence, to keep her and her son safe. She also moved to Tennessee part-time, thinking it would keep her child safer.
Story continues
Wood’s move to Tennessee became permanent in late 2020, but she apparently didn’t have Bell’s OK and he alleged she was withholding their son. Wood admitted in another filing that, “At one time I did conceal from Jamie our whereabouts.” She said it was due to her accusations against Manson and agreement to testify against him. She claimed she was “very concerned about our child’s safety when in Los Angeles” after being informed by investigators that her family’s safety was at risk. She also claimed Manson threatened to abuse the boy.
Bell accused his ex of causing “short- and long-term psychological harm” to the child by the “prolonged separation,” in his own filings. He reportedly added, “I frankly do not understand what is happening. Either Evan’s claims that she is receiving ‘death threats’ are true and Jack is not safe in her care, or they are not true and she is withholding our son from me for other reasons of her own invention.”
In Wood’s The Cut interview she said Bell had been one of “the least supportive” people in her life after she came forward against Manson. She also said “family court is one of the worst places to put a domestic-violence survivor.”
Wood’s battle with Manson (real name: Brian Warner) continues. She accused him of grooming her as a teenager and abusing her for years. (They started dating in 2007 when she was 19 and he was 39.) Manson has not been charged with any crime connected to her allegations. He’s suing her for defamation, but the judge struck down his biggest claims in a ruling this month.
More than a dozen other women in total also came forward with abuse allegations against Manson. He denied all allegations of abuse. He was dropped by his record label and talent agency, but recently teased new music.
