Ryan Phillippe is moving to block his ex-wife Reese Witherspoon from testifying about their marriage as part of his ongoing assault legal battle with his ex-girlfriend.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Phillippe is demanding the judge block his ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt from being allowed to depose his ex-wife.
Hewitt sued Phillippe accusing him of assault and the two are heading to trial next month.
The actor says Hewitt has fired off multiple deposition notices to Witherspoon in an attempt to grill her about her relationship with Phillippe. Hewitt clearly wants to use the testimony as evidence against the actor in the trial.
Phillippe is pleading with the judge to not allow the deposition. He explains his marriage to Witherspoon lasted from 1999 until 2007. He says Hewitt has not explained why she wants to depose Witherspoon. He believes the testimony has no relevance to the case at hand.
His lawyer writes, “Although divorced, they maintain a pleasant relationship with each other and their child. The nature of their marriage and its termination, as well as their ongoing relationship could only be used in this trial for improper purposes.”
He is also asking any evidence of prior police reports filed against him, information about dietary supplements and other past relationships not be allowed during the trial.
The judge has yet to rule.
As The Blast first reported, Elsie Hewitt sued the actor for $1 million accusing him of assaulting her at his Los Angeles home. She claimed after an argument with the actor, she went to his house to get her belongings.
Once she arrived, she claimed Phillippe was extremely agitated, grabbed her upper arm “so tightly that his grip left heavy bruises on her arm” and then “braced his body and violently threw her down his staircase as hard as he could.”
The lawsuit alleged the actor abused drugs like “cocaine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, and steroids.”
Phillippe denied all allegations of assault and accused his ex-girlfriend of trying to extort him with false allegations.
He claimed to have only treated her with “kindness and respect” during their relationship and never physically harmed her.
Phillippe recently lost his bid to keep his ex-girlfriend Paulina Slagter from testifying in the case. Hewitt also shut down the actor’s attempts to block her from obtaining records from LAPD. The actor has tried to block Hewitt from obtaining text messages between him and Witherspoon previously in the case.
Phillippe and Hewitt are set to begin trial on September 6, 2019.