Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood's Custody Battle
I have been writng this post for a few weeks, it is quite long. Anyway I found out that Jamie Bell has been in a bitter custody battle with Evan Rachel Wood. The drama! Poor Jamie. I am Team Jack Bell (his son).
One thing I remembered clearly about Jamie and Wood's short marriage (ERW denied they were actually married in her documentary "Phoenix Rising", but back in 2012, her rep told USA Today that they got married on Oct. 30th 2012.) was a tweet on January 15th, 2013. Wood was pregnant, and she tweeted “Had a dream i made out with Kristen Stewart. Good morning.”. I felt it was disrespectful towards Jamie. Was it necessary to tweet this thought to the public? (Fei: Wood's Twitter account was suspended at some point, so I was not able to get a screenshot of the tweet. But there were blog articles from that time reporting her tweet.) Anyway, their son Jack was born in July 29th 2013, and they announced separation in May 2014 when Jack was barely one-year old.
In July 2017, Jamie married to Kate Mara, who seems to adore Jamie a lot. They had a lovely red-haired girl in May 2019. At the same time, the co-parenting thing with Wood seemed to go pretty well. Between 2017 and the summer of 2020, I often see photos of Jamie and his whole family. Kate seems to be a pretty good stepmom.
The first red flag I saw about Jamie and Wood's co-parenting was a 2016 interview Wood did with the Rolling Stone. The article says:
In addition to being a fresh start, her move to Nashville [part-time], just after wrapping the first season of Westworld, was a bid to give him [son Jack] “grass to run around on and some Southern roots and some kind of normalcy” in a town where she could ostensibly fly under the radar.
At that time I thought to myself, “Would that cause some difficulty for Jamie because he was based in LA?”. I brushed it off because their son was only three, not school age yet. Then Wood started to tell the public about being a victim of sexual abuse and rape at the high point of the "MeToo" movement, then she finally alleged that her abuser was Marilyn Manson (aka Brian Warner) in February 2021. This journey of hers definitely ruined her co-parenting arrangement with Jamie.
In December 2020, Jamie was filming the movie Surrounded in New Mexico and couldn't visit his son. Meanwhile, Wood had moved to Nashville with their son Jack Donovan Bell. According to court documents obtained by Daily Mail, the original plan was for Wood to drop Jack in LA and left him with Jamie. But she didn't. I read some of the documents available online, Here is a timeline. I use JB for Jamie Bell, Wood for Evan Rachel Wood.
December 18, 2020
Wood was due to fly Jack back to LA so the boy could spend Christmas with Jamie.
December 18-21, 2020 ( Court document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
JB texted Wood asking if they had arrived ok and she said that they had. However, this was not true. Jack was never put on a plane. Wood had JB believe, for four days, that Jack was in California when in fact he was still in Tennessee. During those four days, JB was not able to connect with Jack over FaceTime even though he tried every day. He also tried contacting Wood's mother because he had grown suspicious of Wood's evasiveness and concerned about Jack's whereabouts, but her mother, sadly, also would not respond.
December 22 - 23, 2020 (Daily Mail Article with court documents)
Wood claimed she told JB: “...Jack and I will be staying in Nashville for the immediate future. As you will soon find out, I am a material witness in a high profile criminal investigation which likely will be public in the near future. I have been advised that both Jack and my safety is at risk and that it is in our best interests to remain in Nashville. I will forward you my contact at the FBI and you should feel free to call him with whatever I can to accommodate you should you want to come here and visit him whenever you want. I of course will facilitate Facetime with Jack on a frequent basis. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your understanding during this very difficult time.” (Court document share by Daily Mail)
JB said “I received a letter from Evan on December 23, 2020 supposedly from law enforcement personnel connected with the investigation. The letter was sent to me through the messaging app called Signal (Fei: an encrypted instant messaging service). I have attached a true copy of the version I was able to save from the app as Exhibit E. This version shows Evan's name at the top of the post. When I first received the message, another person's name was at the top of the post, Illma Gore. Evan deleted that post. The letter was not on any kind of departmental letterhead and was supposedly from a woman named Michelle Langer of the "Federal Violent Crimes Department". I googled but found no such department or woman. This [redacted texts] noted that Evan's and her family's safety was "of the utmost concern," not that Jack was in danger preventing Evan from returning him to my custody. I called the number for Michelle Langer on the letter for two days. I finally received a text back from someone saying I had the wrong number for a different Michelle. This person gave me another number on which I called and left a voice mail. I never heard back. ” ( Legal document shared by Twitter account @rosiepilsbury)
Then this conversation happened between them. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
December 23, 2020
JB: It appears I have been calling the incorrect number for two days.
Wood: If the number Michelle put her official letter isn't reaching her, then I would assume the other number is also correct. I also signaled you another number.
JB: The number beneath Michelle's signature on the letter belongs to a different Michelle.
Wood: I see. Not sure what happened then, You'll have to ask Michelle when you reach her.
December 2020 to February 2021
Wood claimed despite of her offers to JB to see their son in Tennessee, JB did not travel to Tennessee to visit their son in December 2020, January 2021 or February 2021. (Court document shared by Daily Mail)
January 10, 2021
JB claimed that Wood finally suggested on January 10, 2021 that they mediate with a private judge but it is his understanding that it often takes weeks or months to get an appointment, and it has already been nearly a month since he was supposed to have had Jack in Los Angeles. Although Wood suggested mediation, she did not explain what she was hoping to accomplish. The only thing that was clear was that she had no intention of giving JB custody time with Jack any time soon.
January 12, 2021
On January 12, 2021, JB told Wood he would participate with her in mediation with a private judge but that mediation needed to happen quickly. But he feared that Wood was merely stalling again and he decided to file a request with the Court in the event that they do not resolve this in mediation.
January 22, 2021
JB filed an ex parte application in a parentage action in Los Angeles Superior Court (Matfin-Bell v. Wood; L.A. Superior Court No. 21STP00170). JB disagreed with Wood and called her "unilateral" decision to move from Los Angeles to Tennessee. He claimed: “Evan's story defies credibility. 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. As an actor myself, I am no stranger to threats, and many people I know who are public figures have had to take security precautions. I have received no indication from Evan that she has even a security guard in place.” ( court document shared by Twitter account @rosiepilsbury)
March 2021
Later in legal document shared by Twitter account @MsJenSteele, JB shared this:
I would also like the Court to know that Evan's recent behavior with Jack is truly alarming. Evan is thankfully still facilitating Facetime though that is the only contact I have with Jack now apart from her recent concession to let me see Jack in Florida. During a Facetime call I had with Jack on February 25, 2021, Jack said something to the effect of “You're not a good Daddy, you're not here.” It broke my heart. A few weeks earlier, Jack told me he drew a picture of a man who has been hurting him. Evan lumped onto the call and corrected him, saying not the man hurting you, that man hurting me. Jack said that the man's name is Brian (Marilyn Manson's real name) and he lives three miles from my house (in Los Angeles) and said that was why he was staying in Nashville. Evan's initial contention as why she failed to return Jack to California was because she says she is involved in a high profile investigation regarding supposed abuse by Brian. I have nothing to do with this investigation but Evan contended.”
The same story is available also through a RadarOnline article.
Date unknown, probably in 2021
Wood fought back by filing a case in Tennessee State Court (Case No. 21D-284, Evan Rachel Wood v. Andrew J. Matfin-Bell) and accused JB not participating in co-parenting. She also claimed she and JB were not married when Jack was born. (Fei: I wonder if ERW felt this would help her with her custody case. Here are some excerpts.
California is not Jack's "home state" and thus it is not procedurally proper for California to assume jurisdiction. Jack no longer has a significant connection to California, and substantial evidence of Jack's care and relationships are in Tennessee. There is a pending action in Tennessee. Thus, if California court is inclined to entertain Jamie's action, then the California and Tennessee courts must first communicate to determine the appropriate jurisdiction; and given the dangers posed to Jack and me if we are forced to relocate to Los Angeles, Tennessee is a more appropriate forum. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
I have birth to Jack in 2013 in Los Angeles. At the time, Jamie and I were not married, despite my wishes that I would have been married by the time Jack was born. Jamie and I were both working actors and after Jack's birth we travelled to Virginia so Jamie could work on a television show [Turn]. I retuned with Jack to Los Angeles in 2014 due to Jamie's problematic drinking (he was hospitalized at one point for his alcohol abuse while working) and that he was not engaged with Jack and participating in his care as an active parent.
Throughout 2014, Jamie was working on a movie [Fantastic 4] and rarely visited Jack in Los Angeles. Over the course of the next few years, Jamie and I barely had a relationship. We argued when we communicated. Jamie was often drunk, and he refused to participate in therapy. My understanding is that Jamie started dating someone else (his now wife) and ... ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @TheMansonCases)
March 2, 2022
Marilyn Manson sued Wood and her conspirator/ex-lover Illma Gore (real name Ashley Gore). He also uploaded his court filings using Google Drive. His lawyer discovered Wood submitted a forged letter in her California custody proceeding, using it as supposed evidence for why she should be able to move her son to Tennessee. Basically Manson's lawyer accused her lied under penalty of perjury.
March 15, 2022
In the mean time, in an interview with The Cut conducted in March 2022, there is this paragraph:
A court document she filed last year as part of a custody battle with her ex Jamie Bell details how she installed bulletproof-glass windows, a steel door, and a security fence around her Los Angeles home; in 2016, she moved to Tennessee part time to try and keep her child safe. (Bell claimed Wood was withholding their kid from him and questioned the severity of these threats. Wood says Bell has been one of “the least supportive” people throughout her process of coming forward and that “family court is one of the worst places to put a domestic-violence survivor.”)
June 23, 2022
It was reported than JB is selling his house with wife Kate Mara.
July 4, 2022
JB and Kate were seen house hunting in London, England.
July 10, 2022
Kate Mara announced that she and JB are expecting their second child on Instagram.
July 19, 2022
Mansion's lawyers obtained declaration from Illma Gore's twin sister to support their allegation that Wood and Gore forged a FBI letter. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @TheDUIGuyPlus)
July 25, 2022
Radar Online learnt that Marilyn Manson’s lawyer accused Evan Rachel Wood of sending her ex-husband/actor Jamie Bell a fake FBI letter as part of their custody battle. So a media outlet reported this, not just "noise" on social media.
July 2022
Wood made her Instagram account private after backlash from Amber Heard supporters and some other online harassments.
One thing I remembered clearly about Jamie and Wood's short marriage (ERW denied they were actually married in her documentary "Phoenix Rising", but back in 2012, her rep told USA Today that they got married on Oct. 30th 2012.) was a tweet on January 15th, 2013. Wood was pregnant, and she tweeted “Had a dream i made out with Kristen Stewart. Good morning.”. I felt it was disrespectful towards Jamie. Was it necessary to tweet this thought to the public? (Fei: Wood's Twitter account was suspended at some point, so I was not able to get a screenshot of the tweet. But there were blog articles from that time reporting her tweet.) Anyway, their son Jack was born in July 29th 2013, and they announced separation in May 2014 when Jack was barely one-year old.
In July 2017, Jamie married to Kate Mara, who seems to adore Jamie a lot. They had a lovely red-haired girl in May 2019. At the same time, the co-parenting thing with Wood seemed to go pretty well. Between 2017 and the summer of 2020, I often see photos of Jamie and his whole family. Kate seems to be a pretty good stepmom.
The first red flag I saw about Jamie and Wood's co-parenting was a 2016 interview Wood did with the Rolling Stone. The article says:
In addition to being a fresh start, her move to Nashville [part-time], just after wrapping the first season of Westworld, was a bid to give him [son Jack] “grass to run around on and some Southern roots and some kind of normalcy” in a town where she could ostensibly fly under the radar.
At that time I thought to myself, “Would that cause some difficulty for Jamie because he was based in LA?”. I brushed it off because their son was only three, not school age yet. Then Wood started to tell the public about being a victim of sexual abuse and rape at the high point of the "MeToo" movement, then she finally alleged that her abuser was Marilyn Manson (aka Brian Warner) in February 2021. This journey of hers definitely ruined her co-parenting arrangement with Jamie.
In December 2020, Jamie was filming the movie Surrounded in New Mexico and couldn't visit his son. Meanwhile, Wood had moved to Nashville with their son Jack Donovan Bell. According to court documents obtained by Daily Mail, the original plan was for Wood to drop Jack in LA and left him with Jamie. But she didn't. I read some of the documents available online, Here is a timeline. I use JB for Jamie Bell, Wood for Evan Rachel Wood.
December 18, 2020
Wood was due to fly Jack back to LA so the boy could spend Christmas with Jamie.
December 18-21, 2020 ( Court document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
JB texted Wood asking if they had arrived ok and she said that they had. However, this was not true. Jack was never put on a plane. Wood had JB believe, for four days, that Jack was in California when in fact he was still in Tennessee. During those four days, JB was not able to connect with Jack over FaceTime even though he tried every day. He also tried contacting Wood's mother because he had grown suspicious of Wood's evasiveness and concerned about Jack's whereabouts, but her mother, sadly, also would not respond.
December 22 - 23, 2020 (Daily Mail Article with court documents)
Wood claimed she told JB: “...Jack and I will be staying in Nashville for the immediate future. As you will soon find out, I am a material witness in a high profile criminal investigation which likely will be public in the near future. I have been advised that both Jack and my safety is at risk and that it is in our best interests to remain in Nashville. I will forward you my contact at the FBI and you should feel free to call him with whatever I can to accommodate you should you want to come here and visit him whenever you want. I of course will facilitate Facetime with Jack on a frequent basis. I am available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your understanding during this very difficult time.” (Court document share by Daily Mail)
JB said “I received a letter from Evan on December 23, 2020 supposedly from law enforcement personnel connected with the investigation. The letter was sent to me through the messaging app called Signal (Fei: an encrypted instant messaging service). I have attached a true copy of the version I was able to save from the app as Exhibit E. This version shows Evan's name at the top of the post. When I first received the message, another person's name was at the top of the post, Illma Gore. Evan deleted that post. The letter was not on any kind of departmental letterhead and was supposedly from a woman named Michelle Langer of the "Federal Violent Crimes Department". I googled but found no such department or woman. This [redacted texts] noted that Evan's and her family's safety was "of the utmost concern," not that Jack was in danger preventing Evan from returning him to my custody. I called the number for Michelle Langer on the letter for two days. I finally received a text back from someone saying I had the wrong number for a different Michelle. This person gave me another number on which I called and left a voice mail. I never heard back. ” ( Legal document shared by Twitter account @rosiepilsbury)
Then this conversation happened between them. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
December 23, 2020
JB: It appears I have been calling the incorrect number for two days.
Wood: If the number Michelle put her official letter isn't reaching her, then I would assume the other number is also correct. I also signaled you another number.
JB: The number beneath Michelle's signature on the letter belongs to a different Michelle.
Wood: I see. Not sure what happened then, You'll have to ask Michelle when you reach her.
December 2020 to February 2021
Wood claimed despite of her offers to JB to see their son in Tennessee, JB did not travel to Tennessee to visit their son in December 2020, January 2021 or February 2021. (Court document shared by Daily Mail)
January 10, 2021
JB claimed that Wood finally suggested on January 10, 2021 that they mediate with a private judge but it is his understanding that it often takes weeks or months to get an appointment, and it has already been nearly a month since he was supposed to have had Jack in Los Angeles. Although Wood suggested mediation, she did not explain what she was hoping to accomplish. The only thing that was clear was that she had no intention of giving JB custody time with Jack any time soon.
January 12, 2021
On January 12, 2021, JB told Wood he would participate with her in mediation with a private judge but that mediation needed to happen quickly. But he feared that Wood was merely stalling again and he decided to file a request with the Court in the event that they do not resolve this in mediation.
January 22, 2021
JB filed an ex parte application in a parentage action in Los Angeles Superior Court (Matfin-Bell v. Wood; L.A. Superior Court No. 21STP00170). JB disagreed with Wood and called her "unilateral" decision to move from Los Angeles to Tennessee. He claimed: “Evan's story defies credibility. 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. As an actor myself, I am no stranger to threats, and many people I know who are public figures have had to take security precautions. I have received no indication from Evan that she has even a security guard in place.” ( court document shared by Twitter account @rosiepilsbury)
March 2021
Later in legal document shared by Twitter account @MsJenSteele, JB shared this:
I would also like the Court to know that Evan's recent behavior with Jack is truly alarming. Evan is thankfully still facilitating Facetime though that is the only contact I have with Jack now apart from her recent concession to let me see Jack in Florida. During a Facetime call I had with Jack on February 25, 2021, Jack said something to the effect of “You're not a good Daddy, you're not here.” It broke my heart. A few weeks earlier, Jack told me he drew a picture of a man who has been hurting him. Evan lumped onto the call and corrected him, saying not the man hurting you, that man hurting me. Jack said that the man's name is Brian (Marilyn Manson's real name) and he lives three miles from my house (in Los Angeles) and said that was why he was staying in Nashville. Evan's initial contention as why she failed to return Jack to California was because she says she is involved in a high profile investigation regarding supposed abuse by Brian. I have nothing to do with this investigation but Evan contended.”
The same story is available also through a RadarOnline article.
Date unknown, probably in 2021
Wood fought back by filing a case in Tennessee State Court (Case No. 21D-284, Evan Rachel Wood v. Andrew J. Matfin-Bell) and accused JB not participating in co-parenting. She also claimed she and JB were not married when Jack was born. (Fei: I wonder if ERW felt this would help her with her custody case. Here are some excerpts.
California is not Jack's "home state" and thus it is not procedurally proper for California to assume jurisdiction. Jack no longer has a significant connection to California, and substantial evidence of Jack's care and relationships are in Tennessee. There is a pending action in Tennessee. Thus, if California court is inclined to entertain Jamie's action, then the California and Tennessee courts must first communicate to determine the appropriate jurisdiction; and given the dangers posed to Jack and me if we are forced to relocate to Los Angeles, Tennessee is a more appropriate forum. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @colonelkurtz99)
I have birth to Jack in 2013 in Los Angeles. At the time, Jamie and I were not married, despite my wishes that I would have been married by the time Jack was born. Jamie and I were both working actors and after Jack's birth we travelled to Virginia so Jamie could work on a television show [Turn]. I retuned with Jack to Los Angeles in 2014 due to Jamie's problematic drinking (he was hospitalized at one point for his alcohol abuse while working) and that he was not engaged with Jack and participating in his care as an active parent.
Throughout 2014, Jamie was working on a movie [Fantastic 4] and rarely visited Jack in Los Angeles. Over the course of the next few years, Jamie and I barely had a relationship. We argued when we communicated. Jamie was often drunk, and he refused to participate in therapy. My understanding is that Jamie started dating someone else (his now wife) and ... ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @TheMansonCases)
March 2, 2022
Marilyn Manson sued Wood and her conspirator/ex-lover Illma Gore (real name Ashley Gore). He also uploaded his court filings using Google Drive. His lawyer discovered Wood submitted a forged letter in her California custody proceeding, using it as supposed evidence for why she should be able to move her son to Tennessee. Basically Manson's lawyer accused her lied under penalty of perjury.
March 15, 2022
In the mean time, in an interview with The Cut conducted in March 2022, there is this paragraph:
A court document she filed last year as part of a custody battle with her ex Jamie Bell details how she installed bulletproof-glass windows, a steel door, and a security fence around her Los Angeles home; in 2016, she moved to Tennessee part time to try and keep her child safe. (Bell claimed Wood was withholding their kid from him and questioned the severity of these threats. Wood says Bell has been one of “the least supportive” people throughout her process of coming forward and that “family court is one of the worst places to put a domestic-violence survivor.”)
June 23, 2022
It was reported than JB is selling his house with wife Kate Mara.
July 4, 2022
JB and Kate were seen house hunting in London, England.
July 10, 2022
Kate Mara announced that she and JB are expecting their second child on Instagram.
July 19, 2022
Mansion's lawyers obtained declaration from Illma Gore's twin sister to support their allegation that Wood and Gore forged a FBI letter. ( Court Document shared by Twitter account @TheDUIGuyPlus)
July 25, 2022
Radar Online learnt that Marilyn Manson’s lawyer accused Evan Rachel Wood of sending her ex-husband/actor Jamie Bell a fake FBI letter as part of their custody battle. So a media outlet reported this, not just "noise" on social media.
July 2022
Wood made her Instagram account private after backlash from Amber Heard supporters and some other online harassments.