LISA WU HARTWELL:ALL OF MY SONS HAVE A RIGHTFUL PLACE ON RHOA
Lisa Wu Hartwell(Real Housewives of Atlanta ) is demanding for full custody of her sons Jordan Sweat, 14 and Justin Sweat, age 11. At present, singer Keith Sweat, Lisa’s ex husband, has sole custody of the two boys.
“I’ve already been seeing them four or five times a week, but now the time has come when I want to have them with me full-time,” Lisa, 38, tells Star Magazine. “I immediately filed for an appeal after the verdict, but I was never given a court date in five years. I’ve been afraid of the judicial system, but I’m finally taking the bull by the horns and trying to get my boys back again!”
Lisa is scheduled to be at Fulton County (Georgia) Superior Court in October, and if all goes well, Mrs. Hartwell will have Jordan and Justin appear on BRAVO series Real Housewives of Atlanta.
“If Keith has a hang-up about our sons being on TV, I would be fine with that. But Real Housewives is supposed to be a reality series, and the reality is that all the fans watching believe I only have one child,” says Lisa, who appears on the series with her husband, Ed Hartwell, and their 2-year-old son, EJ. “Jordan and Justin understand what the show involves, and they’d love to do it. I adore all three of my sons — and I believe they all have a rightful place on the show.”
Click Here to see pictures of Lisa and her entire family
I dont blame Keith for not wanting his sons in the lime light because as soon as they make one wrong move the media will go crazy…but I can also understand Lisa’s stand point and wanting her son’s with her, I mean what good mother doesn’t want to see her kids everyday and interact with them…They are not the first people to face this dilema there are many others with the same situation…But RHOA is nothing but DRAMA!!
Seems like she is more interested in them being on the show than being a mother full time. Don’t get me wrong, Lisa was my favorite last season (now it’s Khandi), but there is something so fishy about a man (1) asking for full custody and (2) a judge giving it to him. How many instances to do know of personally where a man has gotten full on custody when the mother is completely stable? I’m sure he has great lawyers but I’m just saying. And what bachelor wants kids in his house 24/7? NOt many. It just seems like Keith and the judge was worried about those kids for some reason.
BTW, her husband is just too sexy.
How many filthy rich men do you know? I don’t know any. I think it’s easier for a man with money to take his children from their mother than it is for an everyday man.
Just out of curosity, I’ve wondered about that myself. Keith does seem to be a responsible and caring father. And there must be a real reason that she didn’t get custody of the children before. I certainly don’t think that this TV show is going to be a help with her asking for custody. I watched that show twice and all the people involved seem to have disfunctions. I had read that he wouldn’t let her take the children on the show because he wasn’t secure about what might happen on that set and he was dead right. Like she said, this is a reality show and from what I saw, like Keith, I wouldn’t want my children on it either. Those women really have some problems and money is not helping them at all.
It was also a public issue that Keith was abusive. I think his money spoke for him. He is arrogant and has been labeled by some as hard to work with. People close to him might feel differently. Whatever the circumstances are, the court has closed it to protect the children.
@gingerTeee
Per who or what is a public issue? Ive never heard of Keith being abusive. He still does his tours & apparently he has a radio show in the south.
I think this is bull. If Lisa appealed 5yrs ago, y was she calling the court every day asking for her court date? She just wants them now bc she is on tv.
She needs to be worried about her business. What happened to her real estae, jewlry line, baby clothes line? All the websites dont work & she had 2 move bc she couldnt pay her mortgage. She needs to get her priorities right.
EJ doesn’t look like he was having fun. Awww
It has been alleged that Lisa had a drug addiction or it could just be that Keith Sweat is bitter. Of the things I’ve heard her say about him none were too nice.
Perhaps she’s the bitter one since she is the one who has something to say. I have never heard him say anything about her in print. I wasn’t even aware that he had been married or was a father until about 2 years ago. From the little I have read, I think that he must be a very caring and loving father.
What’s wrong with a judge granting a father physical custody of the children. Why should the woman be automatically given physical custody? The double-standards that are allowed in the court system today are a big problem. You have judges requiring men to pay 7 or 8 times what a woman has to pay in out of guideline cases (look at Anne Heche complaining about her $3500 a month and you have Sean Combs paying 30k, Nas paying 20k a month). If one parent can provide a more stable environment, they have a home, a support system aren’t moving frequently then that parent should receive physical custody. The other thing in the article that bugs me is the fact that it says Keith Sweat has Sole Custody, I don’t know if this is the author of the article not understanding the lingo or if he truly has sole custody but sole custody is different than Joint Custody with one parent controlling physical custody. Most judges don’t give a parent sole custody (it usually always joint even though one will have to pay child support). When judges award sole custody its usually because the other parent isn’t around, is on drugs or in jail or has given up their rights. So I don’t know if Lisa is telling the entire truth.
You read it right. He has SOLE custody. Now I do wonder what went down behind that. That’s most unusual. He does seem to be doing a good job and seems to be quite good at what he’s doing, according to what I read and see, since I don’t know him personally.
You are right, you don’t know so don’t speculate.
Am I mistaken or aren’t we all speculating here?
I can only speak for NY State as laws are diffent in each state but in NY if there is one child, the non cutodial parent must give 17% of their monthly income to the custodial parent in child support and share educational, medical and other expenses. If there are two kids it is 24% and so on. This is a straight equation that depends on nothing but income figures. That is the only thing that the courts look at. Anne Heche clearly makes a hell of a lot less than P.Diddy so her support amount is lower. People were ragging on Kelis but if you look at the amount Nas supposedly makes per month,her monthly child supposrt figure is lower than 17% therefore her request for an increase is valid. This is just the way it works in the courts. If P.Diddy had cusotdy of the kids Kim Porter would pay very low child support based on her monthly income which I assume is a hell of a lot less than her baby daddy.
And regarding mother’s automatically getting custody, yes family court tends to favor mothers. It is just seen as more natural for a child to live with their mother til they are 18 unless there are extenuating circumstances that deem the mother unfit, or if the mother chooses to relinquish custody. Let’s assume that Lisa is not a drug addict but didn’t know where or how she was going to live and felt that the kids would be more stable staying with their Dad in thier home. Maybe Keith’s money really did do the talking. Regardless, the truth is that family court does often give custody to mothers as that is seen as “in the best interests of the child” especially if the child is under 5 years old. And once a child has been living with one parent (mom or dad) and all is going well it take a lot fo the courts to reversr that decision if the parents are not in agreement. So Lisa has a hard road ahead for her, especially as a cast memeber of the RHOA.
Ok, after five years now she wants custody, child please! As the commenter, Monique, stated it is VERY rare that a male/father gets FULL custody of his children…rare indeed. I have seen instances were the mother was broke down, triflin, etc, etc & STILL got full custody. I do believe that there are three sides to the story and unless Lisa wants her skeletons out the closet, she might want to hush up.
I am so glad that I have avoided this show…..but I digress they are a gorgeous family! I’ve never seen her other sons with Keith but I’m sure they are adorable as well =) Awwwwww why does the baby look so sad?
I’ll leave her comment on waiting 5 years for a court date ALONE, smdh!
I think this is nothing more than her wanting the kids for financial reasons, stealing money from keith in front of the kids, she seem slike the typical materialistic woman and only wants her sons because she wants keith to pay child support to her since her current husband has no income coming in. When you live that life style you will stop at nothing to get more money even if it means using your kids. I hope that she does not get custody of those boys, keith seems to be doing a great job at keeping them grounded and out of the materialistic life. That Lisa Wu just like the rest of RHOA is nothing but trash.
From the 2 times that I watched the show that’s exactly what they appear to be. Trash that came into some money.
I agree with Monique. There is something strange about a judge who gives FULL CUSTODY to the father. As a student studying social work, I have been exposed to a lot of cases where the judge prefers to keep the children with the mother only if she is deemed capable. I’m very curious to know what drama lies behind this custody case. Also, I don’t blame Keith Sweat for not wanting his children to appear on the show. The show is completely RIDICULOUS!
And no doubt, knowing his wife, is the reason he fought as hard as he did to keep them off that set. Good decision.
She just trying to get money b/c none of her entrepreneur endeavors are beginning to not support her life style.
i dont think its strange at all that keith got full custody, its about MONEY period, when my grandparents divorced my grandfather got custody of his daughters, not cause my granny was unfit but because my grandpa had a great job and was probably being vindictive(men can be too you know).
in this case, good for keith cause those kids dont need to be on that show…
Yeah, but how long ago was it when your grandfather got custody? I would assume a long time ago. The system now is strongly biased in favor of the mother. For her to claim that Keith Sweat was physically abusive and he still received not joint but SOLE custody, she had to be pretty horrible!!! Which irks me because she acts like Miss Perfect on the show!
yeah you’re prob right
KEITH SWEAT IS A WIFE BEATER….. HE BEAT THE [stuff]OUT OF HER AND CONTROLLED HER AND JUST LIKE A CONTROLLING WIFE BEATER HE TOOK THE CHILDREN AWAY B/C HE KNEW IT WOULD HURT HER… OPEN YOUR EYES PEOPLE AND STOP TAKING UP FOR THAT [MAN]…
That being the case, why didn’t she file spousal abuse charges. That would have made a difference in the custody of the children. According to the way she talked the time I watched the show, she is self suffient. She is a Real Estate broker and she makes her own money and was doing so all the while. Why now is the fact that he had the money coming up. And why was she taking beatings and not reporting them to the police. Enough calls would certainly have documentation.
It was never a secret about the abuse that she suffered under Keith. That was made public back in the day. Her whipped pretty bad. You don’t really hear of him and a steady. Keith has a baddddddddddd track record.
I am really sorry to hear that. that’s disgraceful. I have never seen any reason for a man to beat a woman. He should have just divorced her if he found it necessary to start hitting on her. I don’t care what she did, men beating women is just not acceptable.
@gingerTee:
It wasnt a secret to whom? I have never & had never heard of Keith beating his wife. If he had it def woulda been a big deal. Look @ past cases: Tina & Ike; Whitney & Bobby; Ri & Chris.
Where did u hear or read that Keith hit her?
I read her bankruptcy papers & divorce papers
( FYI her real name is Sharon Millitte so where is this Lisa name from )
& there isnt anything about abuse!
So why do u say “it is pretty well known that keith beat her”?
He may have beat her, but I work with juveniles and sometimes a Judge has to decide who is the lesser of the two evils! This is sad, but the system is imperfect. So if he did beat his wife, her alleged drug problem is becoming more believable; something had to be wrong.
This is so sad. I feel sorry for the kids. I think its wrong to disrupt their world to only prove that she has 3 kids instead of 1 on the show. What difference does it make? The show is entertaining, yet messy so why would she want her kids around that anyway? Plus they have been with their father for many years, why change that? With more of her dirty laundry coming out in the public (like her recent foreclosure) I think the judge should look at the kids’ best interest and not grant Lisa custody just because she is the mother. And I’ve also heard that she’s going to ask for child support. Is she currently paying it? The judge should look at that too. Get it together Lisa!
Seems like her main motive to get her boys back is soley a publicity stunt and for money. It’s plastered all over the internet that she lost custody of the boys and Keith Sweat chose not to sign the waiver, so I don’t understand why she feels the “fans” believe she only has one son. For a mother not to be granted at least joint custody, proves she was considered unfit. And now, after all this time, she wants to fight for them back and want Keith Sweat to pay child support. Go figure!
well, maybe she could have had hope before they lost their house. The judge is goning to look at the conditions of the home which is a question for lisa,I think the boys should stay with keith.
She has filed for bankruptcy in the past and had some major financial issues. Therefore, if you can’t keep house, i’m not surprised a judge ruled the way he did.
She filed for bankruptcy because that is one legal way to get out of contracts. She was able to get out of contracts she had with keith by filing bankruptcy. In the world of celebs, big business and entertainment, filing bankruptcy does not always have anything to do with being broke
that maybe true but it still says on your credit for the same amount of years as noncelebs.
I hear it can also prevent you purchasing a home and doing the things you want to do. Not saying that was the cause or directly related but it makes me wonder.
There’s something unseemingly about this entire matter. I just can’t put my finger on it.
However, if she wants her fans to know she has 3 children…can’t she just SAY that? Do they have to be on the show? Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s eldest child declined to be on their reality show, but most of their fans knew they had 3 children together. It’s not that hard.
What! There’s 3 Osbourne kids? What the hell, i’ve been in the dark all this time! I have to google this. Lol.
Yes, Sharon and Ozzy’s eldest child is Aimee. Then came Kelly and Jack. The Osbournes also adopted the child of a friend after the boy’s mother passed away so they technically have four children together.
wow what ever happened to shared custody? i think children can benefit from both parents so she might as well try to get them on holidays, vacations, weekends!
to answer all of your questions about why he qot full custody is because keith said that she would spend money all on herself and not the children [her boys] … but i really think she’s doin better this time;
Lol, a lot of men say that; it doesn’t get them out of child support or get them SOLE custody of their kids!!!
This is a publicity stunt. If she really wanted an appeal and didn’t get a court date she would have not waited 5 yrs!!
Why does Ed lookl like Luther Vandross in that picture? How you doin?
Its amazing how many woman are here defending this man.. @lilKunta yes love there was talk that he was abusive..I’m neither a fan of Lisa or Keith and I know that.
Only a GOOD MAN would say you know what my son needs his mother. My child/dren benefit from his/her mother being in their life as do I the father. He didn’t want to have to pay her. As woman do you really think she ONLY wants the children she pushed out for a check? MONEY is motivating but then what after the money?.. Put yourself in her shoes she has a toddler with her new man and living her life as a mother of 1. She has got to feel horrible. Custody battles can be shady, it can ball down to the penny, the system does side mostly with mothers but not a broke mother who even had a bad thought of doing any chemical substance.. Especially if there witness to the acts. Money talks.. I stress again money talks.
I don’t know anything about her except what I have seen the couple of times that I watched the show. And those two times of watching was enough to turn me off on all those women who are a part of it. I remember reading somewhere that Keith was fighting to keep their boys off the show and I felt the reason he gave was solid. After watching the show, I certainly felt that he made the right decision. I am supposing that he must have known his ex well enough to decide that there would be inappropriate content not acceptable for the boys. It seems he was right in his assumption; which does lead me to question her concern for them. Anyway, I’m not siding with the man…I’m siding, with the little information that I have, with the more mature and nurturing parent; and given the information provide, that seems to be Keith. Not everyone who give birth is capable of parenting.
From what I’ve read Keith must be a great father to have custody of not only the boys he has with Lisa but custody of his 2 older daughter too. IMPO, I think Lisa is too “caught up” in putting her other boys out there; WHO CARES if the public thinks you only have one son, that doesn’t mean you have to have them on the show. For the longest time I thought that she had one son but when I saw her being interviewed after the show aired one night is when I heard her talk about her other two sons. Obviously she has opened her mouth enough to let the public know that she isn’t just a mother of one & needs to leave it at that.