Advertisement

Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva: Custody showdown in family court

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva were in the same Los Angeles courtroom Monday as Gibson petitioned for full custody of daughter Lucia, with no overnight stays and only supervised visits between mother and daughter.

Among the witnesses TMZ spotted outside the closed courtroom waiting to take the stand at the hearing, which was expected to go all day: Oksana’s mom, Lyudmila Chernukha, working with an interpreter.

Chernukha has spoken up on her daughter’s behalf before, telling People in May 2009 that Oksana had nothing to do with Mel’s split from wife Robyn Gibson, and refusing to confirm reports that her daughter was pregnant.

(The singer adopted her current last name after performing under other stage names, according to a 1997 Daily Mail story written when she was pregnant with boyfriend Timothy Dalton‘s child. At that time, mom said, ‘I do worry about her. I sometimes wish Oksana would marry a modest teacher here in Russia and not such a celebrity.’ Though Grigorieva has been married twice, she did not marry either of the celebrities with whom she had children.)

Advertisement

Other potential witnesses included the nanny, a private monitor hired by Gibson, and Jimmy Hoyson, the music producer whom TMZ says may or may not have seen what happened between the couple on Jan. 6, and who told photographers earlier this month that Oksana is not just a pretty face but has the skills to deserve a record deal. Gloria Allred gave her opinion on the topic, ABC says. ‘I think it’s unlikely he’ll obtain this,’ she said, because the court would be likely to keep the child with the parent who has had primary physical custody, unless that was not in Lucia’s best interest.

However, Allred said, ‘What you say in public can have an effect on the custody outcome. Ordinarily judges don’t like it when one parent makes derogatory comments about the other.’

Transcripts from the Russian singer’s recent ‘Larry King Live’ interview -- the one where she accused him of choking her and punching her twice in the face -- have been entered as evidence by Team Mel, TMZ reports.

RELATED:

Confirmed: Mel Gibson tapes were all from the same day

Mel to seek full custody of Lucia, Oksana talks to Larry King

Advertisement

Document: Gibson admits slapping Oksana Grigorieva, not punching her

-- Christie D’Zurilla

Advertisement