The bitter divorce battle between Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans is finally over, with a judge ruling that the Fantastic Four actor has to increase maintenance payments to his ex-wife.
The actors went to court in Los Angeles for a nine day hearing in March, with a judge granting Gruffudd’s request to renew a restraining order against Ms Evans for five years.
High court judge Michael J Convey said the actress had harassed and abused Gruffudd, 52, and his new wife, Bianca Wallace, causing them distress.
However, on finances, the judge has now found mostly in support of Ms Evans, 58, meaning the Welsh actor will have to up his payments as she requested.
Gruffudd claimed to have overpaid her by $400,000 but after hearing evidence from forensic accountants hired by both sides the judge ruled he had only overpaid by $27,000.
The bitter divorce between Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans is finally over, with a judge ruling that the Fantastic Four actor has to increase maintenance payments to his ex-wife, (pictured on May 6)
Ms Evans, who moved out of Beverly Hills and into Encino, had told the court that she had been suffering financial hardship since their split in early 2021.
They have daughters Ella, 16, and Elsie, 12, and the judge noted that she has them ‘100 per cent’ of the time.
The actor will pay 10 per cent of his gross income to Ms Evans, which amounts to $1,862 a month. That reflects the terms of a pre-nuptial agreement which they signed before their marriage which lasted for 14 years.
Gruffudd had asked to pay nothing to his ex-wife because of her ’emotional abuse’. He had previously agreed to pay $3,579 in child support.
Friends of Ms Evans said she was ‘deeply relieved’ that the legal action was now over.
One added: ‘She is appalled that so much money was spent on lawyers and on bitter arguments and just wants to move on with her life.’
The judge ruled that $168,000 in a Coutts savings account was indeed Ms Evans’ personal money, but criticised her for not disclosing it to the court in a ‘timely’ manner which he said ‘impaired her credibility.’
The nature of four accounts belonging to Gruffudd was also the subject of a dispute, with the actor initially saying that they were community property and then changing his tune. The judge was not persuaded by that change.
A judge has ruled the actor must increase his maintenance payments despite ‘domestic violence’ campaign against him and wife Bianca
Ioan married Bianca Wallace in April last year (pictured together in 2024)
However in a written judgment, Judge Convey wrote that Gruffudd’s ‘persuasive case’ against paying his ex wife failed because the online harassment was a ‘misdemeanour’ offence rather than a crime.
Referencing Alice’s online harassment campaign, he said: ‘First and foremost, she committed domestic violence upon Ioan and his wife, Bianca.
‘This campaign was found to be relentless and continuing through this trial. And while she stated she recognised her conduct and has started to take responsibility for it – with apology and through professional mental health care – there must be a long history of no violence before this Court can conclude she has taken full responsibility for her conduct.
‘There was ample, persuasive and credible evidence that Alice’s conduct had a profoundly negative impact on Ioan’s and Bianca’s emotional state, for several years and continuing. This prevented Ioan from staying fully and gainfully employed to the same extent as he was during the marriage.’
He went on: ‘Another important and weighty factor was Alice’s lack of sincere and sustained effort over an extended time, to cease the abusive behaviour (she could start by staying off social media).
‘She has the benefit of receiving spousal support, while she has very recently engaged in a pattern and campaign of violence against Ioan and Bianca.
‘But she was not convicted of a crime, and she is fortunate that she is ‘protected’ by the terms of the PMA (pre marital agreement). There is a strong, public policy argument for the principle that Alice should not benefit – some might argue, profit – from her violence, but the seemingly unfair result must achieve today under the Family Code and by the terms of the PMA contract.’
Ms Evans’ attorney, Janina Verano, told the court in March that when the actress embarked on her online harassment of her ex-husband in 2021, ‘It was the end of COVID, she was isolated, she was facing the loss of her marriage.’
Any hope of reconciling with Gruffudd was ‘crushed’ when she found he had fallen in love with Ms Wallace, who had worked as an extra on the TV series Harrow, in which he starred. ‘She lost her mind, she was devastated,’ said Ms Verano.
The attorney went on: ‘Alice is in a very different place. She has moved on with her life.’
Ms Verano insisted that Ms Evans’ abusive emails and texts had stopped. ‘There are no threats. Alice has deactivated her Twitter account,’ she told the court.
She added that while some of the actress’s more recent social media posts ‘talk about what she’s been through….they are not meant to disturb Ioan’s peace. Alice’s conduct has changed quite a bit.’
The three-year restraining order imposed on Ms Evans in August 2022 impacted her ability to work and travel, said Ms Verano, who told the court that she had lost jobs because of it.
She also said that flying into the USA with her daughters, Ms Evans and the girls are always detained at airports, ‘which frightens the girls because they’re afraid she might end up in jail.’
She said that renewing the restraining order, which includes the ‘stay away’ clause requiring Ms Evans to keep 100 feet away from Gruffudd, would mean that her daughters would have to choose which parent shows up at their school graduations and other family events.
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