After a legal fight with her ex-fiance that lasted for months, The Voice judge Jennifer Hudson's custody battle is finally over. But the result isn't what the singer hoped for.
Hudson became a coach on The Voice this season, after judging The Voice UK for the last two years. Her music career began as a contestant on season three of American Idol, and while she didn't win the reality show, she went on to sign a record deal and star in the movie Dreamgirls. This year, Hudson has been impressing fans by coaching alongside her fellow judges, like Blake Shelton and Adam Levine.
But for months, Hudson's success has been overshadowed by a messy custody battle between the singer and her ex-fiance, pro wrestler David Otunga. The couple started dating in 2008, and were engaged just months later. The couple also had a son, David Jr., in 2009. But afterwards, they repeatedly delayed their plans to get married.
Last November, the couple finally decided to go their separate ways, but for months Hudson and Otunga have battled over custody of David Jr. During the legal fight, Hudson requested and was granted a protective order stopping Otunga from contacting her and her son, saying she was "living in fear" of what the pro wrestler would do to them.
In documents submitted by Hudson, she alleges that Otunga showed "increasingly aggressive, threatening and harassing behavior," and was violent towards her in David Jr.'s presence. That's why so many people are stunned by the couple's decision about their son's custody.
Hudson and Otunga reached a temporary agreement granting custody of David Jr. to his father.
Hudson had already modified her protective order to allow David Jr. to spend Thanksgiving with his father. Now, she has voluntarily dropped the order altogether, allowing Otunga to become the boy's primary caregiver. Hudson, who is flying between London and Los Angeles while taping two separate Voice shows, will also have partial custody of David Jr.
According to TMZ, part of the couple's agreement states that Otunga will move out of the home he shared with Hudson. The former pro-wrestler has denied the allegations made against him by Hudson, and his lawyer, Tracey M. Rizzo, accused the singer of giving "an award winning performance in court to portray herself as the victim."
"David Otunga has been trying to negotiate the terms of an amicable parenting agreement with Ms. Hudson for several weeks now," Rizzo said in a statement.
"However, when it became apparent to Ms. Hudson that Mr. Otunga would be the parent granted residential care of the child, as a result of Mr. Otunga being the child's primary caregiver while Ms. Hudson pursues her career all over the world, Ms. Hudson decided to file a meritless Petition for Order of Protection in an effort to gain an unfair advantage in the custody dispute."
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[H/T: TMZ]