Olivia Wilde accuses ‘wealthy’ Jason Sudeikis of putting her ‘in debt’ in fight over kids

Article content

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis’ ongoing custody fight over their two children has taken another nasty turn with the actress accusing her ex of trying to “litigate her into debt.”

Article content

“While Jason can afford to spin his wheels with filing after filing, Olivia cannot,” Wilde’s attorneys said ahead of a hearing scheduled in Los Angeles, according to the Daily Mail.

Article content

“Jason seems intent on throwing whatever he can against the wall to see what will stick,” the filing continues. “While the details of Jason’s finances are presently unknown as he refused to substantively respond to basic discovery, she is aware that he is far wealthier than she is.”

But a source tells Entertainment Tonight that “the fact that [Wilde is] pleading poverty after having a successful career is insane.”

Since their split in November 2020, Wilde, 39, has fought for their two children, Otis, 8, and Daisy, 6, to live in Los Angeles, while Sudeikis, 47, has tried to have them live in New York.

Article content

Article content

But Wilde scored a legal victory Friday when TMZ reported that a judge rejected Sudeikis’ request to have the case heard in New York City.

“The Court finds that it is in the interest of substantial justice that the parties’ child support petition be heard in California,” New York magistrate Adele Alexis Harris wrote in her decision.

In early 2022, the pair looked to be working towards an amicable solution to their custody battle. But their fight turned ugly when Sudeikis served Wilde with custody papers in the midst of her presentation at CinemaCon last April.

As Wilde presented footage from her second film as a director, Don’t Worry Darling, she was handed an envelope on the stage.

Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro called it “an acerbic move to sabotage a star with legal papers during their shining moment on stage before 4,100 in the film industry.”

Article content

Wilde also called the moment “really vicious” and said it was evidence of why she decided to call it quits with the Horrible Bosses star.

“It was my workplace,” Wilde told Variety months later. “In any other workplace, it would be seen as an attack. It was really upsetting. It shouldn’t have been able to happen. There was a huge breach in security, which is really scary. The hurdles that you had to jump through to get into that room with several badges, plus special COVID tests that had to be taken days in advance, which gave you wristbands that were necessary to gain access to the event — this was something that required forethought.”

Sudeikis later said he had “no prior knowledge” of the plan.

“Papers were drawn up to establish jurisdiction relating to the children of Ms. Wilde and Mr. Sudeikis,” a statement read on behalf of the Ted Lasso star. “Mr. Sudeikis had no prior knowledge of the time or place that the envelope would have been delivered as this would solely be up to the process service company involved and he would never condone her being served in such an inappropriate manner.”

But Wilde said that she “hated that this nastiness distracted from the work of so many different people.”

“To try to sabotage that was really vicious,” Wilde told Variety. “But I had a job to do; I’m not easily distracted. But, you know, sadly, it was not something that was entirely surprising to me. I mean, there’s a reason I left that relationship.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com