Dean McDermott Wants Joint Custody and Spousal Support in Response to Tori Spelling’s Divorce Filing
Dean McDermott fired back at Tori Spelling's divorce filing with paperwork of his own.
McDermott, 57, filed his response on Monday, May 13, Us Weekly can confirm. Similar to Spelling's original divorce filing, he listed irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split. However, McDermott shared a different separation date than his estranged wife.
McDermott's response came Months after Spelling officially requested to end their marriage. Us Weekly confirmed on March 29 that Spelling filed the paperwork, which listed June 17, 2023, as their separation date. McDermott's paperwork listed July 7, 2023, according to court documents obtained by Us.
Spelling and McDermott have weathered many ups and downs in the public eye since exchanging vows in 2006. The former couple, who share sons Liam, 16, Finn, 11, and Beau, 6, and daughters Stella, 15, and Hattie, 12, have sparked split speculation several times. Spelling requested full custody of their children in the filing but McDermott requested joint legal and physical custody.
McDermott also requested spousal support for himself, and asked the court to terminate Spelling's spousal support. The actress did the same in her initial filing, leaving the pair on opposite sides of the spectrum.
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In June 2023, McDermott surprised people when he posted — and later deleted — a split announcement. This was the same day Spelling listed as their date of separation. (She later recalled that the last straw came after she threw a baked potato during their final fight during an episode of her "Misspelling" podcast last month.)
“It’s with great sadness and a very very heavy heart that after 18 years together and 5 amazing children, that @torispelling and I have decided to go our separate ways and start a new journey of our own,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “We will continue to work together as loving parents and guide and love our children through this difficult time. We ask that you all respect our privacy as we take this time to surround our family with love and work our way through this. Thank you all for your support and kindness. ??.”
McDermott later opened up about how his past issues with substance abuse led to him and Spelling parting ways.
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“Alcohol made me feel good enough. I started feeling good enough until it got to a point where it didn’t — it ended up in isolation,” he told the Daily Mail in December 2023. “It ended up with me drinking a fifth of tequila every night, seven days a week and a handful of [prescription medications] by myself with a beautiful family in the other room.”
McDermott continued: “That’s what it led to and that’s what led to the brokenness and to what happened between me and Tori. I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t live that life anymore. I was tired of the anger and the yelling.”
Spelling shared her side of the story on her “Misspelling” podcast, which she recorded the same day as the divorce filing. During the first episode, which debuted on April 1, Spelling called McDermott to tell him their divorce was official.
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“I hate to do this to you while you're in the middle of you're going to work and everything. They've done it,” she told McDermott, who was not heard on the podcast. “It’s just the formality. It's like a one sheet you check off and next you'll have to sign it. You have a lawyer? Wait, it's going to be spun what way, that I had enough of you? What do you mean?”
Spelling defended her decision to be the person to file, adding, “If it's about that, ‘who files first, the other person's wrong,’ I feel like I deserve to file first then. Well, I mean you basically put it all out there with Daily Mail, like you said, everything that you've done to me over the years. So, I think it would make perfect sense that it's followed up that I would file. Those are things I would never have divulged to anybody, and you did.”
