Christina Hall‘s 3-year-old son with ex-husband Ant Anstead will no longer appear on her TV shows or Instagram accounts.
On Sunday, the Flip or Flop alum who now appears in Christina on the Coast and Christina in the Country declared herself “mentally exhausted” from her ongoing custody dispute with Anstead.
Hall, who split with Anstead in September 2020 and has gone on to remarry Josh Hall, accused her ex of using “manipulation tactics” and spreading “false information” about her, but she’s agreed with his request to the court that she not put Hudson on TV or social media when she was profiting. Anstead wanted the court to give him full custody had she not complied.
“I am mentally exhausted over the recent false accusations against me,” the reality TV star began her Instagram post. “Hudson’s father has made attempts to turn my family, friends and fans against me through manipulation tactics and false information. This has had great impact on me and my household. Because of this, I have made the decision to no longer feature Hudson on Instagram, my tv shows or any social platforms until he is old enough to make this decision for himself.”
Hall said she’s “always been fine not having Hudson appear on public platforms and have made that clear.” She said her “only reason for wanting him to appear on my shows, has always been to participate in the fun activities/outings with our family [and his] siblings.” Hall has two children — Taylor, 12, and Brayden, 7 — with her former Flip or Flop co-star Tarek El Moussa, and they have appeared on her shows and on social media.
“Hudson’s father has made it clear via his public court filings he is using Instagram to rate the kind of parent I am, since that is the only access he has to my personal life,” Hall wrote. “This has been the case since [we split]. This is unnecessary pressure for a platform that is supposed to be used to share moments chosen, rather than a judgement tool… especially since this is a very small fraction of my personal life as the rest is kept between me and my family. My personal collection of photos on my phone and in our home are filled with memories of my children, so Hudson will be just fine without having his presence displayed on a public forum.”
The Christina in the Country star with new husband Josh Hall and her three children:
She ended by thanking “all the people who can see beyond the nonsense being thrown at me. I am and will ALWAYS remain a protective mother.”
Anstead put pressure on Hall to make this decision. The exes have been fighting over custody since late April, when he first made a bid for emergency custody. However, in a Superior Court of California filing from last Tuesday, which was obtained by Yahoo Entertainment, he acknowledged that “a lot has been resolved without the need for court intervention” since then since they’ve established a “50-50 custodial arrangement” that the child has gotten used to.
The Celebrity IOU: Joyride star wrote in his declaration that the “one unresolved issue” between them is whether or not it’s in Hudson’s best interest to appear on Hall’s HGTV shows on in ads on her social media. He said Hall had “already exploited” their son on social media and he fears that footage of the child was obtained “without my knowledge or consent” and will be appear in her shows.
Anstead’s explained his issue is not with “organic” photos of Hall with their son doing everyday things — as long as she’s not profiting from them. He noted he shares photos with his son on social media too, but “neither Hudson nor myself are paid for the posts.” In his argument, he pointed to the “innumerable and well documented” risks of children working on TV sets (“even if that set is Christina’s home”), and expressed worry that Hudson could face “public ridicule over seemingly benign content,” citing the suicide this year of Toddlers & Tiaras star Kailia Posey.
Anstead is OK with “organic” moments with their son going on social media, but he doesn’t want Hall making money off of the content:
“It is my goal to ensure that Hudson is allowed a childhood that is joyful, healthy, and natural, with as few stresses as possible, and this should be prioritized above creating commercial opportunity and content,” wrote the British TV host, who also has two children from another marriage. “I beg the courts to allow him to just be a three-year-old boy.”
In closing, Anstead said, “I do not believe it is in Hudson’s best interests to be exploited by his mother for professional and financial gain. As she insists that he should be, I ask the court to give me legal custody so I can make the decisions to protect Hudson and prevent this from happening. I want Hudson … to have an organic relationship with his mother and I will continue to fully support her in having physical custody of Hudson 50 percent of the time.”
Anstead and Hall were briefly married from 2018 to 2020, and were given shared joint legal and physical custody of Hudson when their divorce was finalized in June 2021.
Earlier this year, Hall married her third husband, a realtor, and their family life will be documented in a new HGTV series Christina in the Country, which is set at their Nashville vacation home and comes out later this year. Just days ago, she shared a snap of herself enjoying a Tennessee night, saying being there has been good for her soul, especially when “people are assholes,” assumed to be a swipe at Anstead amid his court filing.
As for Anstead, he’s been dating actress Renée Zellweger since his split from Hall.
