Thomas claims Willis has “done everything in her power to interfere, block and frustrate” his relationship with their daughter, Louetta

NEED TO KNOW

• Derek Richard Thomas, the ex of Rumer Willis, claims the actress is deliberately interfering with his ability to parent their 3-year-old daughter Louetta
• In an Aug. 27 declaration obtained by PEOPLE, Thomas claims that Willis has “done everything in her power to interfere, block and frustrate my relationship with Louetta
• He also denied Willis’ prior allegations of drug abuse in the filing

Rumer Willis’ ex Derek Richard Thomas is claiming that the actress is deliberately blocking his access to their 3-year-old daughter in a new court filing.

In a declaration filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, Aug. 27, and obtained by PEOPLE, Thomas offered an extensive account of what he claims are the actress’ attempts to prevent him from seeing Louetta, the 3-year-old daughter the former couple shares.

Also in the filing, Thomas denied Willis’ prior claims that he abused drugs. In a declaration previously filed with the court requesting mandatory drug testing for Thomas, Willis claimed that he was so high on marijuana that he could not “even watch [Louetta] for those couple of minutes without her rolling off the couch.”

“I reject completely and without reservation Respondent’s claims concerning my alleged abuse of drugs, any conduct on my part that endangers Louetta, and any failure at efforts to cooperate with her and to co-parent Louetta,” Thomas wrote.

Thomas further claims that Willis has “done everything in her power to interfere, block and frustrate my relationship with Louetta.”

In a June 9 custody order obtained by PEOPLE, Willis was granted primary physical custody of Louetta, and Thomas was granted parenting time every other weekend starting on June 20.

PEOPLE reached out to Willis and an attorney for Thomas for comment on Friday, Aug. 28.

Thomas says in his declaration that the judge established a six-week period in which his time with Louetta would be supervised by two monitors that he says were selected by Willis. After those six weeks, Thomas says that he was supposed to begin having “unmonitored and overnight” visitation with Louetta, but that following the order, Willis has “made excuse after excuse that has frustrated my visitation,” per the filing.

He further claimed that Willis offered to “take away all of the supervision for the rest of the visits” if Thomas would agree to have a person of her choosing accompany Louetta at his upcoming wedding to Lizzie Loch in October. “Having her have someone at the wedding is more important for me than that,” Willis allegedly wrote, according to what Thomas says is a transcript of messages from a co-parenting app attached to the filing.

He further details multiple alleged disputes involving the monitors, including one July incident in which he filed an objection to the presence of a specific monitor at his visitation with Louetta. Despite the objection, the monitor arrived at his home, according to Thomas’ filing, and they agreed to stay outside with Louetta while waiting for the new monitor to arrive. Before the new monitor arrived, Thomas says Willis showed up at his house with the police, who told them both it was a “civil matter,” according to the filing.

“Respondent took Louetta from my care roughly forty minutes into my visitation time, with police present, and without any reason connected to Louetta‘s safety or wellbeing. I did not physically resist or argue with Respondent in front of Louetta,” he claimed. “I let her go because Respondent had already brought police to the visit, and I did not want to escalate the scene further in front of my daughter. Louetta was visibly upset to be separated from me at that moment and did not want to leave.”

Thomas’ filing is in response to an ex parte application filed by Willis, asking the court to vacate the June 9 custody order. In his filing, Thomas asks the court to keep the order in place.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Thomas and Willis have been in a contentious court battle over custody of Louetta since July 2025, when Thomas first filed for custody and visitation. At the time, he claimed that Willis moved to Idaho without his consent, and sought to “compromise if not totally obliterate my relationship with Louetta.”

In a May court filing, Willis accused Thomas of emotional abuse, saying he engaged in hours-long emotional tirades that were a form of “coercive control.”

“For a long time, it was difficult for me to stand up to [Thomas] as I tried to avoid his emotional tirades and abuse even for a long time after he moved out,” Willis claimed in a court filing.

She also alleged in the filing that Thomas’ behavior has left Louetta “traumatized” and “crying a lot,” leading her to request that the court deny Thomas “overnights or time with Louetta” without a child custody evaluation. Thomas denied the abuse allegations in a responsive filing.

#Rumer #Willis #Derek #Richard #Thomas #Denies #Drug #Claims #Willis #Interfering #Mandated #Access #3YearOld #Daughter