Everyone wants a warm, loving parent who bakes chocolate chip cookies, asks how school was, and helps with homework. Of course, those aren't the kinds of parents who tend to be interesting characters on a teen drama. In the case of Lily van der Woodsen on the beloved show Gossip Girl, she's too caught up in living a fancy lifestyle and keeping up with the Joneses to notice when her kids are in trouble. She still has feelings for her ex Rufus Humphrey... which makes things complicated since Lily's daughter Serena and Rufus's son Dan are totally in love.
IRL, Kelly Rutherford's family situation is super dramatic and could definitely been a Gossip Girl storyline. After a six-year custody battle, she lost custody of her two children, and she has paid an emotional and financial price for that. Kelly is far from the wealthiest Gossip Girl cast member and she doesn't have as much money as fans would expect. In fact, Kelly has the lowest net worth of the show's cast.
Did Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford's custody battle affect her net worth? Let's take a look.
Kelly's Custody Battle
A role like Lily on Gossip Girl can definitely change someone's life and shape their acting career. Even before she was cast, Kelly Rutherford had been working steadily in TV in the '80s and '90s. She played Dixie Cousins in The Adventures of Briso County, Jr, Laura Martineau on Get Real, and Judy Owen on Homefront. Kelly's big break came with the role of Megan Lewis on the fun, juicy drama Melrose Place.
When catching up with the Gossip Girl cast, the sad news about Kelly Rutherford's family life stands out. It's definitely not what people would expect.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kelly Rutherford has a net worth of $1 million and in April 2013, news broke that Kelly has lost a lot of money because of her custody battle. The publication called her "nearly bankrupt."
Kelly Rutherford filed for bankruptcy during her custody battle, according to Separation.ca, as she had to pay $1.5 miillion of legal fees. The website explains the battle between Kelly Rutherford and Daniel Giersch which began back in 2012. It all started when Daniel no longer had a visa and a court in California ruled that their kids should go to Monaco to stay with Daniel. It seemed like an easy and logical solution as Kelly could visit.
Things changed in 2015 when Kelly was given custody of their two children. This was only supposed to be so they could spend five weeks of summer in the U.S. with Kelly. When New York and California said that this wasn't part of their jurisdiction, Kelly had to give the kids back to Daniel os they could live in Monaco. This is when the custody battle really heated up, as Kelly said no and tried to keep the children.
People reported in 2015 that Kelly was "only permitted to ‘exercise her visiting and accommodation rights exclusively in France and Monaco."
It's heartbreaking to hear of any parent who can't be with their children full-time and this was a very heated battle. Jezebel has details on the custody case. According to Jezebel, when the judge said in 2012 that the kids had to live with Daniel, “The court found that Rutherford had not been totally forthcoming about her work schedule and that her fears of Giersch abducting the children had led her to fail to ‘demonstrate the level of commitment to facilitating the relationship (with their father) that would be required of a residential parent in a relocation situation.’”
Hermés and Helena are growing up fast, as they're now 14 and 12 years old.
Kelly Rutherford's Finances
According to The Richest, Kelly Rutherford is said to have made $486,000 for season 6 of Gossip Girl. It does seem that the actress lost some of her net worth when paying for legal fees. It was definitely a pricey process.
The Daily Mail reported that in 2013, Kelly Rutherford filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The actress explained that she had liabilities of $2,021,83 and assets of $23,937. The publication reported on court documents that explained the deal that Kelly made: she would pay $15,000 so she once again had the rights to Gossip Girl residuals.
It looks like by 2015, Kelly's legal fees were up to $2.5 million. Kelly Rutherford told Entertainment Tonight, "It cost me everything I've ever made."
Kelly Rutherford was interviewed on the Behind Her Empire Podcast and shared that she tries to stay optimistic. The actress said, "When your mom is suffering or your mom is upset. It's really hard for kids. So I thought, I want to mirror someone that's healthy, that's present, that has love in her heart, that that couldn't find a way to love their father in spite of of whatever was going on so that they could feel OK."
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