Jesse Williams will now be paying his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, a reduced amount in child support. According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the actor’s monthly support payments have been “temporarily modified” to $6,413. Before the recent filing, the 40-year-old was apparently paying his ex $40,000 a month in child support for their daughter Sadie, 8, and son Maceo, 6.
The modification in support payments comes after the actor reported a “significant change in income” after he left Grey’s Anatomy after 12 seasons as Dr. Jackson Avery. Financial records for the actor were included in a Los Angeles filing on March 29 where he requested to reduce his payments.
“I am requesting the Court reduce the child support to a reasonable amount I can afford given the significant reduction in my income and the now fluctuating nature of my income,” the former model said in court documents obtained by HollywoodLife. “The child support of $40,000 per month ($480,000 per year) which commenced October 1, 2019, was based almost entirely on my ‘Grey’s’ episodic fees which was my then primary source of income.”
Jesse alleged that he currently makes $1,668 per week while working on Broadway’s Take Me Out compared to his whopping total of $6.2 million plus $183,000 in residuals from the Emmy Award-winning show.
“Child support was also based on my other sources of income which included my ‘Grey’s’ residuals for shows I appeared in during the marriage, and after Aryn and I separated, as well as sporadic income from occasional smaller acting, endorsement or appearance work,” he added. “All of my additional sources of income were/are far less than my former episodic fees from ‘Grey’s.’”
The exes, who share their two kids Sadie and Maceo, officially called it quits in April 2017 after tying the knot in 2012. Just months after filing for divorce, things got ugly between the former couple when Jesse expressed he wasn’t happy with the way his ex was handling the situation, feeling like she wasn’t letting him spend enough time with the kids. Their case was eventually brought to a judge, who ruled for the parents to have joint legal custody in September 2017. It wasn’t until March 2018, though, that Jesse was granted joint physical custody, as well.