Jaime King and Kyle Newman navigated a series of ups and downs in their divorce battle.
King and Newman got married in 2007, nearly 13 years before they went their separate ways. Us Weekly confirmed in May 2020 that the former Heart of Dixie actress filed for divorce and requested a temporary restraining order against Newman.
The TRO was ultimately partially granted after King accused Newman of abuse, who denied the allegations. King and Newman settled their divorce three years later and agreed to share custody of their sons, James and Leo. (Newman shares son Etienne and daughter Beatrix with wife Cyn, whom he married in 2023.)
News broke in March 2025 that Newman was granted sole physical custody of James and Leo after King allegedly failed to complete a six-month drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and a 26-week parenting course. While King has not addressed the allegations, court docs obtained by Us revealed that she is allowed supervised visits with her kids.
Jaime King’s Ex Kyle Given Sole Physical Custody of Sons Amid Rehab Order
Keep scrolling for a timeline of King and Newman’s divorce:
May 2020
Along with her divorce petition, King asked the court for a temporary restraining order against Newman. She claimed that Newman had been aggressive and emotionally manipulative toward her, also alleging that he refused to let James and Leo speak to her when he took them to Pennsylvania. (A source told Us at the time that Newman traveled to the East Coast with the boys during the COVID-19 pandemic. King stayed back in Los Angeles.)
King also sought sole legal and physical custody of their sons, alleging that she felt Newman “systematically made [her] feel inadequate, insecure, unsafe and traumatized” during their marriage.
Newman denied the accusations in a statement.
“Kyle was deeply saddened by Jaime’s attempt to obtain court orders based solely on false claims without providing him any opportunity to respond,” a spokesperson for Newman told Us. “Kyle wants nothing but the best for his whole family and hopes that Jaime can find the peace and help she needs.”
King’s emergency motion was partially granted, so Newman couldn’t “be within 100 yards” of King. Her petition for sole custody was not immediately addressed.
September 2020
Newman filed new documents claiming that King “emptied and closed” their joint bank accounts. He asked that King pay for all of his legal fees, arguing that he’s a stay-at-home father and cannot easily cover the $150,000 costs already incurred.
Asking for financial reimbursement, Newman claimed that he was James and Leo’s primary caregiver because of King’s alleged history of substance abuse.
“Since the children’s birth‚ Jaime has rarely been alone with the children,” Newman claimed in the docs. “I do not recall her ever taking them anywhere by herself — there has always been a nanny, godparent‚ someone to supervise and help her. By 2015, it became evident to me that Jaime was not capable of taking care of the children — she simply did not have the faculties or ability to take care of them given her substance abuse issues.”
Newman also requested primary custody of James and Leo, which King shot down in her November filing. According to King, “the boys have experienced a great deal of trauma in the last seven months” because of the custody dispute. She further alleged that Newman wouldn’t let them FaceTime her, denying his claims of her apparent drug problem.
“In February of 2020, [Newman] attempted to wreak havoc with my professional life,” King wrote in her motion. “[He] called at least one of the executives on Black Summer after midnight demanding information about me. [He] had a third party call various people who worked on the show demanding that some action be taken before I ‘killed myself’ with drugs or alcohol. No one on set believed that I had an issue, because I did not (and do not.) In fact, I was on set on time every day, and always professional.”
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September 2023
King and Newman reached a settlement three years later.
“It was an emotional day at the courthouse yesterday, as Jaime and Kyle sat down in a room and hammered out the details of their settlement, putting their two children first,” Newman’s lawyer, Garry M. Gekht, said in a statement to Us. “It was truly touching to see them get along again after years of acrimony — Jaime even joined Kyle to get coffee across the street from the courthouse as I was writing up the settlement agreement.”
April 2024
In April, King submitted an emergency request to stop paying Newman child and spousal support and claimed that she “lacks the ability to pay” the funds. She alleged that Newman has success as a filmmaker, game designer and writer to be able to support himself.
In response, Newman filed his own paperwork alleging that King had “been out of compliance with the court’s child and spousal support orders for well over a year.”
Jaime King Requests Court End Child Support Payments to Ex Kyle Newman
March 2025
New court documents confirmed that Newman was awarded sole custody of James and Leo after King allegedly had yet to complete a rehab and parenting program. He and King still have joint legal custody, though Newman has a “tie-breaking authority” on any disputes.
King, who has not publicly addressed the legal update, was further ordered to complete individual counseling and will be allowed to have supervised family visits on Tuesdays, Thursdays and alternating Sundays.
That same month, In Touch reported that Newman previously accused King of drinking and using drugs during one of her pregnancies in 2020 documents. At the time, King told a judge that she’d never had a substance abuse issue and called the claim “unfounded.”
