Ed Hartwell filed a response on Wednesday, August 17, to estranged wife Keshia Knight Pulliam’s claims that he is “plotting to harm” her unborn child.
The former NFL linebacker, 38, said in court documents filed to the Superior Court of Fulton County in Georgia that he “emphatically denies that he has ‘purposefully misled’ anyone about [Pulliam]’s pregnancy,” as Pulliam had claimed in her August 9 filings.
On Tuesday, August 9, the former child star, 37, stated in court documents that Hartwell had been finding ways to “obstruct [her] pregnancy,” including engaging in “certain underhanded and unusual conduct that [Pulliam] believes to be designed to cause [Pulliam] to miscarry her unborn child.”
The actress did not specify what these actions might have been.
Pulliam also claimed in her court documents that Hartwell was “mentally and emotionally abusive” and that she believed he was somehow involved in “threatening text messages” from an unknown phone number in Las Vegas, where the former NFL player is from.
In his response, the athlete states that the Cosby Show alum “should be ashamed of herself for ever making such false and offensive allegations.”
Hartwell additionally shut down any suggestions that he has been using the situation to gain media attention.
“The Plaintiff [Hartwell] emphatically denies that he has exhibited despicable character and egregious demeanor by giving interviews to the media for financial gain,” the document reads. “The Plaintiff would like to remind the Defendant [Pulliam] that she is the person who sat for an interview which was aired over a two (2) day period following the filing of her Answer to this Complaint.”
On the topics of paternity tests and adultery, Hartwell said in the legal filings that he “has always been willing to voluntarily submit” to testing. (When the NFL alum filed for divorce on Monday, July 25, just one week after the stress announced her pregnancy, he also issued a statement that he wanted a paternity test.)
Hartwell also says in the latest court documents that “he is not involved in a relationship with anyone,” despite Pulliam’s claims that he has engaged in extramarital affairs. The former NFL star said during an interview with Page Six TV that it was Pulliam who was unfaithful, hence the call for a paternity test.
The athlete also denies Pulliam’s claims that he should “be immediately ordered to submit to a psychological evaluation … [for his] deep-seated rage and uncontrollable anger.”
“If either party has been mentally and emotionally abusive toward the other, it is [Pulliam],” the document reads.
The couple tied the knot in a New Year’s Eve ceremony this past January after four months of dating; Hartwell told Page Six that a big part of the reason why he filed for divorce was because he felt like they were moving too quickly.
“Our lives and wants are headed two different directions,” he told the publication.
