LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The ugly court battle between Michael Strahan and his ex-wife Jean Muggli might have closed, but it seems things continue to get worse for the host of ‘Good Morning America’. According to the court papers from their years-long court battle, Strahan allegedly spent more money on his “dog” than on his children. The ex-couple were married for almost eight years (1999-2006) and share twin daughters Isabella and Sophia, 18.
As per the court documents obtained by The US Sun, Strahan’s ex-wife claimed that Strahan “spent more money on his dogs than his daughters,” as she accused him of owing $547,000 on their twins’ extracurricular activities in 2019. The papers filed by Muggli also revealed that Isabella and Sophia have been living with her mother in Wilmington, North Carolina, because she has physical custody. They were looking forward to moving to New York City so that the kids could be closer to their dad.
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Michael 'refused' to let Jean and their kids move to New York
However, the documents claim that the 'Good Morning America' host “refused” to let them move and insisted the girls stay in North Carolina so that they can continue their extracurricular activities.
“Michael refused to let us move, adamantly insisting the girls stay in North Carolina, ostensibly so they could continue to pursue their robust extracurricular activities, including horseback riding and volleyball,” the court papers claimed.
Did Michael fail to pay child support?
The documents also revealed the reason why Muggli filed for Enforcement and Modification regarding child support in the courts of New York in May 2019. The papers claimed that Michael has “failed” to pay “agreed-upon child support” for their children and requested her ex-husband to pay a lump-sum amount of $321,654.98, with interest. She also suggested that child support should be increased to $220,543.97 per year.
“This Petition is necessitated by Michael’s failure to pay agreed-upon child support for our two children, including by failing to increase it annually, and by reneging on our agreement to share certain of the girls’ extracurricular expenses,” read the documents.
On the other hand, Muggli didn’t leave any stone unturned to let the courts know about Strahan’s luxurious life and noted that he and his dog, Enzo, travel by private plane before indicating that he spends more on his dog than his children. She added, “Michael travels by private plane, even Michael’s dog travels by private plane. In fact, Michael once told a friend of mine he spends more on his dog than on his children.”
The court papers also claimed that Strahan always “supports” his daughters by telling them how proud he is of them and frequently posting pictures on social media. But the reality is that he had stopped helping them “financially.” She also wanted to modify the order so that Michael is liable to pay 100% of the twins’ extracurricular activities.
“The cost of all this was becoming staggering and beyond my financial reach. I asked Michael to contribute. His contribution was limited to a few piano lessons and, for a time, he helped with the horses. At my request, Michael paid for 50% of the purchase of three horses for the girls, and one leased horse, as well as some additional horse expenses. I asked that Michael pay 90%, the same level of contribution that he makes for school expenses, but Michael would only ever agree to contribute 50% Michael also, for a brief time, helped pay for some horse expenses (part of the barn expenses), as we had agreed, but he stopped doing that and refused to continue,” the court papers read.
Battle of the exes
But the fight didn’t stop there and Michael went on to file a petition in which he accused Jean of engaging in a “pattern of abusive conduct” towards the twins. In the court papers, he claimed that his ex-wife was emotionally and physically abusive. These charges were dismissed and the ex-couple agreed to share custody. Muggli, along with her daughters Isabella and Sophia, is currently living in Manhattan. The twin siblings have now taken admission to two different high schools in Manhattan.