'Gravely concerned' Ioan Gruffudd accuses ex-wife Alice Evans of child abuse
Ioan Gruffudd has accused his ex Alice Evans of inflicting "serious emotional harm" on their two young daughters.
The Fantastic Four actor, 49, alleges his estranged wife "has verbally abused and undermined me in front of the girls throughout their lives" and claims Evans has been encouraging their children not to communicate with him.
Following Evans and Gruffudd's eldest daughter filing a restraining order request against her father and his partner Bianca Wallace, which has been denied, the Mirror has seen court documents related to the petition from the minor.
In his declaration, dated June 23, 2023, Gruffudd states to Los Angeles Superior Court that he believes his ex Evans was the one who encouraged their daughter Ella, 13, to file the request.
Gruffudd, who also shares daughter Elsie, nine, with Evans, wrote: "Since I moved out of the family residence in January 2021, Alice has inflicted serious emotional harm on Ella and Elsie by her statements and by interfering in my relationship with them.
'Ioan Gruffudd's drama The Reunion looks fabulous, but it's too silly to thrill'"Alice has verbally abused and undermined me in front of the girls throughout their lives. Since 13 January 2021, Alice has also encouraged and instructed them not to see me or communicate with me, and she has made hundreds if not thousands of threatening and abusive communications to me and about me, many of which I submitted to the Court as part of my request for a Domestic Violence Restraining Order."
A DVRO was issued against Evans in August last year.
Gruffudd continues to claim he believes Evans "has used and harmed Ella, and is the person behind Ella's actions and Request."
Ella submitted a restraining order request against her father and his girlfriend, who she accuses of "slamming a door on her", on May 31 but the request has since been denied.
Writing in his Declaration, Gruffudd claimed: "I believe Alice has used and harmed Ella, and is the person behind Ella's actions and Request. I have read Ella's Declaration. I believe Alice wrote it.
"I believe Alice's actions are child abuse, and I am gravely concerned for our children. Ella has not attended school for the 2022/2023 school year. Alice has kept her isolated at home. Alice has claimed Ella is being 'home schooled' yet has provided no information."
The Welsh actor continued to claim "although there is an Order for the girls to attend therapy", Evans has repeatedly refused to bring their daughters or interfered with their therapy sessions.
He concluded his Declaration with: "To this day, Alice continues to post false and misleading statements about me on social media·. Ella has an Instagram account and a Twitter account, and I believe she sees Alice's posts. Articles have also been published regarding Alice's social media posts.
"I believe that Alice's actions are child abuse, that she told Ella to try to hurt herself when she was with me and to accuse Bianca of hurting her, and that she caused Ella to file her instant requests, to Ella's detriment.
Following the court documents, 102 Dalmatians actress Alice posted photos of her daughters hugging one another and reacted to the claims made.
Ioan Gruffudd breaks his silence amid his messy split from wife Alice EvansShe wrote in a lengthy Instagram post: "These are my beautiful kids. Yesterday was a very traumatic day for all of us but we got through it because of the love we have for each other. Just look at these two. Look how much they care.
"I won’t say more about the unbelievable injustices of the CA court system that we all experienced, but know that my babies are happy. They’re well fed and we’ve laughed a lot since and we all slept in my bed last night for the first time in about 7 years! Heaven! ( I’ll show the pic if I can get permission from Ella!)
"We are so grateful for your love and support. There is so much I am not allowed to say. But it will be so much more interesting when I finally AM allowed because let me tell you, the last three years of our lives have been like nothing I’ve ever heard or possibly could have imagined.Love you all A, E, E &E (fur)".
Gruffudd filed for divorce from Evans in 2021 following the fallout of their dramatic split.
The former couple met during the filming of 102 Dalmatians and were married for 13 years after they tied the knot in 2007.