Jesse Williams Granted Lower Child Support Payments After Leaving ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Jesse Williams will be paying his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, a reduced amount for child support.

According to court documents filed on Thursday, Williams’ monthly child support payments have been “temporarily modified” to $6,413.

Prior to the filing, the 40-year-old actor — who shares daughter Sadie, 8, and son Maceo, 6, with Drake-Lee — was paying his ex-wife $40,000 in child support each month.

The modification in support payments comes after the actor reported a “significant change in income” after leaving Grey’s Anatomy after 12 seasons as Dr. Jackson Avery. Financial records for the actor were included in a Los Angeles filing on March 29, where he requested to reduce his payments.

“I am requesting the Court reduce the child support to a reasonable amount I can afford given the significant reduction in my income and the now fluctuating nature of my income,” the former model said in court documents. “The child support of $40,000 per month ($480,000 per year) which commenced October 1, 2019, was based almost entirely on my ‘Grey’s’ episodic fees which was my then primary source of income.”

Currently, the actor is starring in the Broadway production of Take Me Out, which reportedly pays him $1,668 per week.

“Child support was also based on my other sources of income, which included my ‘Grey’s’ residuals for shows I appeared in during the marriage, after Aryn and I separated, and sporadic income from occasional smaller acting endorsement or appearance work,” he added. “All of my additional sources of income were/are far less than my former episodic fees from ‘Grey’s.'”

Williams and Drake-Lee, 40, wed in September 2012 after more than five years together. The actor filed for divorce in April 2017. Since then, the pair have weathered a series of court battles regarding custody of their children and Williams’ child support.