Hollywood's bitter custody battles

While acrimonious divorce battles are common in Hollywood, Tinseltown has also seen its share of bitter custody battles. With one of the industry's most high-profile couples ' Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ' parting ways, Hollywood is gearing up for the mother-of-all custody clashes in the coming months. As the battle lines are being drawn, at the centre of it all will be the former couple's six children ' Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, Pax, Vivienne and Knox, who range between the ages of 15 and 8, and are said to be equally close to both the parents.
Currently, Brad has only been granted supervised visitation with the children after reports emerged that the actor allegedly got physical with his oldest son, Maddox, 15, on board a private airplane last month. Reports have now emerged that the investigation into Pitt's alleged child abuse has been expanded to focus on all of the actor's kids after several instances of verbal abuse. Angelina has also accused Brad of being a threat to the kids because 'he brings weed and alcohol into the house' and has lousy parenting habits. The actress is gearing up to demand full custody. While it remains to be seen how the Jolie-Pitt custody saga will unfold, here are other instances of discordant custody battles that made headlines...
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
That Madonna and Ritchie were at loggerheads for the custody of their son, Rocco, made headlines this year. After months of hostility, the former couple finally reached an agreement, which stated that Rocco will continue to be schooled in London and be allowed regular visits by his mother. It all started when Rocco refused to return to the US and stay with his mother. What followed were a number of impassioned social media posts from both Rocco and Madonna before the duo patched up.
Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry
Back in 2011, when Berry and Aubry decided to slug it out for the custody of their daughter Nahla, there were several instances of accusations and complaints about racism and child endangerment from both sides. While Berry accused Aubry of purposely delaying proceedings in order to get more child support, Aubry won a court battle that forbid the actress move to France with Nahla. Post this, Berry's ex, Olivier Martinez, who was living in with the star at that time, came to blows with Aubry. After years of acrimony, however, the two have finally decided to share custody and seem to be on amicable terms.
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise
Fifteen years ago when Kidman and Cruise decided to separate, there were reports that the actor had completely blindsided Kidman, who allegedly suffered a miscarriage after being served with divorce papers ' just two months after the couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. While the two stars didn't wash dirty linen in public, Cruise won custody of the couple's two adopted children ' Connor and Isabella ' who then decided to cut off all ties with Kidman reportedly due to their beliefs in Scientology.
Alec Baldwin And Kim Basinger
In 2001, Basinger and Baldwin decided to go their separate ways after eight years of a reportedly volatile marriage. At the centre of the split was the custody battle for their only daughter ' Ireland. At the time, reports suggested that Baldwin's nasty temper and Basinger's mental health issues took a huge toll on the relationship, which ended in a nasty and very public custody battle. Basinger was initially awarded primary custody while Baldwin was granted visitation rights. The actor eventually won the legal battle and joint custody of Ireland. Through all this, he accused Kim of keeping his daughter from him, causing parental alienation. In 2007, things finally came to a head when he left Ireland the infamous voicemail in which he called her a 'rude little pig' that made headlines. Although after this, he was stopped from seeing Ireland completely, later, he regained custody rights.
Adam Dell and Padma Lakshmi
In her new memoir that released this year, Padma Lakshmi revealed that she didn't know who the father of her daughter, Krishna Thea, was when she realised she was pregnant in 2009. Since she was dating both Teddy Forstmann and Adam Dell at the same time, the model had to opt for a paternity test to figure out who the father was. Even after the birth of Krishna, Lakshmi was hesitant to name Dell as the father, who then decided to go to court to gain custody. The American venture capitalist not only won a court battle that ruled Krishna's last name should be changed to Lakshmi-Dell, but also got extra custody and
visitation rights.
Camille Grammer and Kelsey Grammer
Splitting after 13 years of marriage, the Frasier star and former glamour model decided to go their separate ways but not without publicly running down each other. The custody battle for their two children ' Mason and Jade (both born via a surrogate mother) ' was rather ugly with accusations flying fast and thick between the two. While Camille revealed in an interview that Grammer liked to cross-dress, the actor admitted that he and Camille hadn't had sex in a decade. In 2011, Camille won primary physical custody of the children as well as child and spousal support.
Tameka Foster and Usher
While Usher and Tameka were hitched for just two years, the custody battle (in 2009) for their two sons ' Usher Raymond V and Naviyd ' dragged on for three years. The trial witnessed several lows with the stylist accusing the singer of cheating with one of her bridesmaids, using drugs and being an absentee father. Usher's lawyers, meanwhile, said that Tameka had physically attacked him, spat on his new girlfiend, was incompetent as a parent and 'did not have the emotional stability to bond with them'. The taxing battle ended after the judge awarded Usher primary custody of the children.