The coronavirus pandemic has made Jim Edmonds and Meghan King Edmonds’ battle over their children even more complicated. Both of them aren’t pleased with how much the other has been traveling, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal.
According to sources, Meghan, 35, had daughter Aspen, 3, and twin boys Hayes and Hart, 23 months, in her care in Los Angeles until recently. The former couple’s three kids are now in St. Louis with Jim, 49, as the Real Housewives of Orange County alum spends time with new boyfriend Christian Schauf in Utah.
“Jim is happy and relieved to have Aspen, Hayes and Hart back with him in St. Louis. Meghan’s social media and blog posts the past few weeks have been somewhat distressing and Jim was a bit concerned about her state of mind,” a rep for the former MLB star told Us exclusively on Tuesday, May 19. “Just to be clear, Jim has not traveled at all during the pandemic; he was in Nashville right before the situation escalated and has stayed home ever since. As happy as Jim is to have the kids home, he did not require Meghan to travel during this shutdown and bring them back. He would never do anything to put any of his children at risk.”
Jim and Meghan, who wed in 2014, called it quits in October 2019 after five years of marriage amid claims that he cheated with one of the couple’s four nannies (Jim and caretaker denied the allegations). While the former St. Louis Cardinals star — who tested positive for COVID-19 in April — worries about his estranged wife’s travel, a friend of Meghan told Us that the reality star is just as concerned about his recent choices with new girlfriend Kortnie O’Connor.
“Meghan took every precaution to spend time with someone who makes her happy, after taking care of her kids for nine weeks in a row, and after being cheated on, left, and finding out via the media that Jim filed for divorce, then immediately moved on with a former friend and moved her into the home Meghan built,” the friend said, noting that the “Intimate Knowledge” podcast host tried to work with Jim on the flying arrangements. “She offered to fly [with the kids] back to St. Louis on a private plane and pay for half of it and he declined. She offered to keep them in California longer but Jim said no. Meghan also offered to get their kids tested for antibodies but Jim declined that too.”
Jim’s rep, meanwhile, told Us that he “didn’t think it would serve any purpose” to have the kids tested: “He felt there was no reason to put the kids at risk by bringing them to a hospital or testing facility considering they had absolutely no symptoms and were fine.” The athlete’s rep added that Meghan “took the kids to Los Angeles without Jim’s knowledge or consent,” so for “her to demand that Jim send a private jet to pick them up is a bit much.”
Meghan’s rep told Us: “Meghan was within her rights to take the kids to California and to St. Louis and Jim asked that she bring them to St. Louis.”
Us confirmed earlier on Tuesday that Meghan started seeing Schauf, who is the CEO of an emergency survival kit company in Park City, Utah.
“Christian has been tested twice for coronavirus and is negative,” Meghan’s friend told Us. “He could not be better prepared for this pandemic. He is an expert in this exact catastrophic event.”
