Denise Richards has reportedly been left ‘blindsided and disappointed’ by a court ruling that her ex Charlie Sheen can stop paying her child support.
The Drop Dead Gorgeous actress, 50, was not present for the hearing, in which an LA judge adjusted Sheen’s child support payments to ‘zero dollars a month’ in light of the fact daughter Sami, 17 is now living with her father, 56.
Sources close to the star claim that she was ‘blindsided’ by the decision, and also accused Charlie – with whom she also shares daughter Lola, 16 – of ‘manipulating the situation’ while also insisting he still must pay as she lives with Lola.
An insider told People: ‘Charlie filed two years ago and kept pushing the court date, so Denise was very surprised that it happened yesterday while she is out of town filming. She was blindsided. Now he’s manipulating the situation…
Shocked: Denise Richards insiders claim she was ‘blindsided’ by court decisions to adjust ex Charlie Sheen’s child support payments to zero
‘Lola does not live with Charlie. She lives with both of her parents and stays with Charlie when Denise is out of town. When Denise is back, Lola will be with her.
Despite the sources’ claims, Charlie has reportedly had 100% custody of both Lola and Sam since April. Insiders continued: ‘This is very disappointing for Denise, but also not surprising. Charlie is pitting the girls against their mother, which is horrible.’
Another source contradicted those claims, however, saying Richards ‘has known about the court date for six months.’
After the judge’s decision on Monday, Two And A Half Men star Charlie told Us Weekly: ‘I think what transpired today is extremely fair. It speaks to not just today, but it speaks historically to that same fairness.’
Different opinion: Richards was not present for the hearing and reportedly never filed documents contesting Sheen’s request to reduce his support payments
Youngest: Richards insiders said that daughter Lola, 16, (above) splits her time with mom and dad, making the new child support arrangement inaccurate. Charlie has claimed he’s had 100% custody of the kids since April 2021
Sheen originally filed the petition to change the child support arrangement in December 2019, with Richards, 50, not filing any paperwork in opposition.
Richards sources claim she was purposefully left in the dark about the hearing.
‘Denise kept asking when the date was and he blew her off,’ they said. ‘He pushed it off because he didn’t want records of the child support he was paying Brooke (Mueller) to impact the case after he agreed to pay them both the same amount of child support,’ the source claimed.
The insider also alleged that Sheen hasn’t paid any child support to Richards, ‘in at least four years,’ adding Lola lives with Richards but she stays with her dad and sister when she’s filming.
Offspring: Denise and Charlie’s daughter Sami, 17, moved in with her father in April. She recently accused her mother of having oppressive rules in a social media video
Parenthood: Sheen originally filed the petition to change the child support arrangement in December 2019 (pictured with daughter Sami in 2019)
Sheen’s attorney Pedrick claims Richards actually owes Sheen money, because he ‘overpaid’ on his child support for so long, but he is not attempting to recoup those funds.
The ruling comes less than a month after Sami claimed in a now-deleted Instagram post where she claimed living with Richards and her husband Aaron Phypers was, ‘hell.’
She claimed in the removed Instagram post she was living in an, ‘abusive household’ adding she was ‘insanely depressed’ while sharing a photo of herself from a year ago.
Sami also shared a photo of her from present day, stating she moved out of ‘hell house’ and had a ‘spiritual awakening’ while confirming she dropped out of high school.
Sad: A rep for Richards, who was married to Sheen from 2002 to 2006, said she is ‘saddened’ by the situation
Sheen later confirmed both Sami and Lola had been living with him in a brief statement, which read, ‘Sam’s amazing. I love her and all my children unconditionally. We’re having a ball. GED here we come!’
A rep for Richards, who was married to Sheen from 2002 to 2006, said she is ‘saddened’ by the situation.
‘Denise is just like any other divorce parent dealing with a rebellious teenage daughter,’ the insider said.
‘It’s better for Sami if Denise and Charlie were coparenting her during this time. They are not,’ the source added.
Another source claimed Richards wants her daughters to have, ‘boundaries’ which their father doesn’t provide, adding Sami went to live with her dad because ‘rules and curfew aren’t really set in stone.’
Co-parenting: ‘It’s better for Sami if Denise and Charlie were co-parenting her during this time. They are not,’ the source added (pictured in 2013)
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