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Karisma vs Sanjay Kapur: 12 celebrity custody battles that got ugly

With actress Karisma Kapoor and estranged husband Sanjay Kapur’s custody battle over their kids in the spotlight, here’s a look at some other celebrity custody battles that got really ugly

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Custody battles are mostly ugly. And in the case of celebrities, it’s usually nothing short of a spectacle to watch and hear celebrities unwillingly resort to wash their dirty linen publicly. It’s like the ultimate power play between the couple, each using all his/her might, connections and public sympathy to win the odds in their favour to win the custody of their child/children. Meanwhile, we did a round-up of some nasty celebrity custody battles that set tongues wagging.

Karisma Kapoor vs Sanjay Kapur
Closer home, actress Karisma Kapoor and her estranged husband, Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapur are fighting a bitter custody battle over their kids (Samaira and Kiaan). The couple got married in 2003. Sanjay has filed for custody of their kids the alleged reason being the actress wasn’t allowing him access to the children. Recently, he accused Karisma of using their children as pawns, not allowing the Kapurs to meet them often in order to sponge off money from him. He also accused her of cruelly depriving  his  unwell father access to the kids, who pined for them, and he passed away six months later. The couple had earlier filed for divorce by mutual consent, but  decided to withdraw the petition in November 2015. The buzz is that both the parties failed to agree on terms of a trust set up for the children.

Madonna vs Guy Ritchie
Madge and her ex-husband Guy Ritchie (married in 2000, divorced in 2008) are currently embroiled in a bitter custody battle over their 15-year-old son Rocco, who allegedly got bored of touring with his mommy and decided to live with his father in the UK as an act of rebellion and refused to return to the US. The pop star appeared in court on December 23, 2015, where the judge ordered Rocco to return to the US to sort out his living situation. The teen has yet to return home and as a result, has missed school. Both parents are fighting over the teen and await another hearing.

Charlie Sheen vs Denise Richards
A messy custody battle seems definite on the cards, especially if one is married to Charlie Sheen. Sheen married Denise Richards in 2002 and got divorced in 2006. As per their original divorce agreement, Denise retained primary custody of their daughters, Sam and Lola, while Charlie had visitation rights. Due to alcohol and drug abuse, Denise asked Charlie to sign her full custody and Charlie agreed. But a year later, the actor tried to get the daughters on weekends, but failed.

Halle Berry vs Gabriel Aubry
This smoking hot couple (though never married) fought an ugly custody battle over their daughter Nahla. They split in April 2010, and intially shared custody. In December 2010, Aubry filed papers to legally formalise his paternity and since then things got ugly. The Oscar-winning actress alleged that Aubry bleached and straightened Nahla’s hair, to make her appear more white. She also accused him of calling her the N-word and of child endangerment. They both share custody of their daughter with Berry having to cough up child support of around $16,000 a month. Berry also accused the Canadian model of using child support money for his own fitness, clothing, electronics, car and health insurance.

Alec Baldwin vs Kim Basinger
Actors Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger got hitched in 1993 and in 1995, had daughter Ireland. By 2002, their marriage went up in smoke. Basinger got awarded physical custody of Ireland with Baldwin getting joint legal custody and visitation rights, and since then both have indulged in mudslinging. Alec alleged that Kim brainwashed Ireland, restricted his visits and was mentally unstable. On the other hand, she accused him of unstable and aggressive behaviour. In 2007, the 30 Rock star left a nasty voicemail for his daughter Ireland in which he called her “thoughtless little pig”. This voicemail message went public and because of his temper, Baldwin temporarily lost his visitation rights. The father and daughter mended their relationship later. The seven-year-custody battle cost Baldwin a whopping $3million.

Charlie Sheen vs Brooke Mueller
Things went from bad to worse fighting for custody battle of his twin sons, Bob and Max from his third wife, Brooke Mueller (they married in 2008). After the divorce in 2011, the spouses agreed to joint legal custody. But Sheen lost rights over his sons due to bad behaviour. But in 2011, despite being arrested for drug possession, Mueller retained custody. Both the parents later agreed to joint legal and physical custody of the twins.

Michael Jackson vs Deborah Rowe
The late King of Pop and Debbie Rowe got married in 1996, had two children — Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr (son) and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson (daughter) and got divorced in 1999. Rowe had voluntarily given up legal rights to their children. But in 2003, when the music genius was accused of child molestation, Rowe fought for visitation rights. Their custody battle was met with a private settlement in 2006. The details weren’t released to the public.

Britney Spears vs Kevin Federline
The Princess of Pop and Kevin Federline tied the knot in 2004, and many wondered how long this marriage would last (courtesy Britney’s 55-hour marriage to Jason Alexander in 2004). When the couple divorced in 2007, mommy Spears was initially granted custody of their two sons. Then her bizarre behaviour shone in the media. Remember pics of her shaved head? Federline accused his ex-wife of alcohol and drug abuse. Spears went to rehab too. That very year in 2007, she lost custody of the kids after she was caught driving without a license. By the year 2008, the then-troubled singer’s visitation rights were suspended and Federline was granted full legal and physical custody of the boys. In the next few years, with the help of her family, Britney slowly regained visitation rights to her two sons.

Anna Nicole  Smith, Larry Birkhead vs Howard K Stern
Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith gave birth to daughter Dannielynn with her live-in boyfriend Howard K Stern (her agent and attorney) in 2006. However, the voluptuous beauty’s former love interest Larry Birkhead claimed that he is the father of Dannielynn. In 2007, Smith died of a drug overdose and the last six months of her life got much media attention around the death of her son, Daniel from her previous marriage, and the paternity and custody battle over her daughter, Dannielynn. Both Birkhead and Stern claimed that they were Dannielynn’s biological father. After tedious trials and court proceedings, a paternity test proved that Birkhead is the father of the girl and he was awarded full custody.

Usher vs Tameka Foster
They got divorced in 2009, but R&B heartthrob Usher and Tameka Foster’s (his ex-wife and former stylist) custody battle over their sons, Usher Raymond V and Naviyd, continued long after. The singer had demanded for a 50-50 split in custody, while Tameka asked for primary custody of the children. The courtroom battle got ugly with Tameka alleged that Usher cheated on her with her bridesmaid and was an absentee father. Usher on the other hand claimed that Tameka spat on and got violent with his post-split girlfriend. The battle raged on and shockingly, in 2013, Usher won the custody battle after an incident where their son, Usher V nearly drowned in the care of Usher’s aunt.

Pamela Anderson vs Tommy Lee
Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson got embroiled in a nasty custody battle following the debacle of their three-year marriage (1995-1998). The Baywatch star accused the rocker of physical abuse under the influence of alcohol and of giving her Hepatitis C during their marriage (Tommy denied having the disease). Lee served 180 days in jail for assaulting the busty model and actress. Anderson appealed that her ex only have supervised visits with their two sons but her appeal was denied. In 2002, they reached an agreement to share custody of the kids.

Mel Gibson vs Oksana Grigorieva
In April 2009, just two weeks before Mel Gibson’s wife of 28-years Robyn filed for divorce, he flaunted his new lady love Russian painist Oksana Grigorieva. In November 2009, Oksana and Mel had a daughter Lucia. In early 2010, Grigorieva accused the actor of physical abuse — of hitting her in the face, verbally abusing her and threatening to kill her — and had audio tapes as proof. The two parents settled for an out-of-court child support agreement but it got even uglier later, as the musician sought a new settlement and the actor accused her of extortion. In 2011, the ex-lovers agreed to a joint custody, and Gibson was to pay Oksana $750,000 over a period of five years, exclusive of child support and let his ex-lover live in one of his properties in Los Angeles.

Take a cue from them
Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta

Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta got married in 1986 and got divorced in 2002. But the end of their marriage was clean without any mudslinging or bitter custody battle over their kids — son Junaid and daughter Ira. Khan later married Kiran Rao in 2005 and in December 2011, welcomed son Azad into the world. However, the actor is often spotted with Junaid and Ira at movie screenings, sporting events and even ex-wife Reena is present at Aamir’s family functions.

Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan
The hunky actor married the interior designer in 2000. The couple called it quits in 2014. However, they didn’t engage in a legal wrestle over their kids, Hrehaan and Hridhaan. Both Duggu and Sussanne share custody of their children, who take turns holidaying with each parent and are spotted with them at movie screenings.

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