Ioan Gruffudd scores huge win as judge extends order against ex-wife Alice Evans amid bitter court battle

Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd scored a major victory in his ugly court fight with ex-wife Alice Evans on Wednesday, when a Los Angeles judge ordered a five-year renewal of a domestic violence restraining order against him.

Evans, 57, appeared calm and subdued as Judge Michael Convey delivered his verdict, while Gruffudd, seated at the other end of a long table, showed little emotion. Neither wanted to comment to the Daily Mail following the verdict.

In the opening days of his trials, which began last week, Gruffudd, 52, described Evans’ years-long campaign of online abuse and harassment targeting him and his new wife, Australian actress Bianca Wallace, 33.

Evans admitted in the witness box on Wednesday that he had bombarded social media sites with derogatory and false posts about his ex-wife and his new wife, and apologized to both Gruffudd and Wallace.

He told the court how ’embarrassed and remorseful’ he was and assured Judge Convey that his online ramblings were a thing of the past.

But Judge Convey rejected his attempts at contrition, arguing he had breached the original restraining order on ‘more than one’ occasion, which called for him to stay 30 meters away from Gruffudd and Wallace and not post negative comments about them online.

Ioan Gruffudd, 52, won a major court victory on Wednesday after a Los Angeles judge renewed a five-year restraining order against his ex-wife Alice Evans, 57; They are seen appearing in court on February 26

The judge granted the Welsh actor’s request to renew the restraining order, and in a 75-minute summary of evidence presented throughout the seven-day hearing, Evans said on Wednesday he had engaged in a ‘concerted, focused, deliberate and searing campaign of humiliation’ targeting Gruffudd and Wallace.

He said Evans’ ‘threats of force and intimidation… left Ioan fearful for his and Bianca’s physical safety’. Her ‘pattern of abuse’ was isolating her from her children. ‘His promise to ‘dedicate his life to fighting her’ and ruin her career threatened her ability to care for her children.’

Gruffudd and Evans separated in early 2021 and went through a messy divorce that became final in 2023. They have been in a bitter fight ever since over money and their daughters Ella, 16, and Elsie, 12. Gruffudd married Wallace in April last year, who gave birth to their daughter Mila in November.

Judge Convey said he was particularly disturbed by the incident, which took place in front of the children, in which Evans ‘screamed at the top of his lungs at Gruffudd’ and told him he was going to ‘Amber Heard’ and told the girls: ‘If your dad is creepy to you, let me know.’

“This is harassment,” the judge said, citing another incident in which Evans revealed online that Wallace suffered from multiple sclerosis and was causing Bianca distress. ‘This is emotional abuse, this is coercive control,’ he continued.

Judge Convey asked the following question about Evans’ expressions of remorse in the witness box about his abuse of his ex-wife and new wife: ‘Is this real remorse? I’m not convinced. But this is a positive step forward.’

He acknowledged that Evans’ online shenanigans had ‘diminished somewhat, not to the same level of violence or hate’. However, sufficient responsibility was not shown.’

Gruffudd told the court last week that Evans’ years-long online harassment of him and his new wife Bianca Wallace, 33, led to them seeking a three-year restraining order against him in 2022; Gruffudd and Wallace spotted in February

The judge granted the actor’s request to renew the restraining order and told Evans the actor had engaged in a ‘deliberate and caustic campaign’ of humiliation targeting Gruffudd and Wallace.

The judge told the court that he was considering renewing the restraining order permanently instead of just five years and said, ‘It is Alice’s duty to get therapy.’ And he warned her that breaching the new restraining order ‘could lead to criminal prosecution’.

He also called on Evans and Gruffudd, who have not seen their daughter for two years, to “find a way to co-parent” to give them another chance to be part of the girls’ lives, according to Evans.

Evans, who wore a black jacket over a pink and white patterned long skirt at Wednesday’s hearing, did not want to talk about the judge’s decision. Neither did Gruffudd, who wore a dark suit and tie throughout the hearing.

But Gruffudd’s lawyer Joseph Langlois told the Daily Mail: ‘You have to start somewhere and this is a start for Alice to get her life together.

‘The judge gave him some good advice and I’m hopeful that in the future he will put things right, change and turn his life around.’

Earlier, Langlois and Evans’ attorney, Janina Verano, filed closing statements for and against renewing the restraining order.

Langlois told the court that the legal standard for renewing an order is that ‘the protected parties have a reasonable fear of future abuse’.

He said Evans had breached a previous restraining order against him ‘almost too many times to count’.

‘Alice’s abuse compromised the physical safety and welfare of the protected parties (Gruffudd and Wallace) and their young daughter. He intended to harm her financially and damage her career.’

Referring to Wallace’s statement last week that she and her three-month-old baby had received death threats as a result of Evans’ derogatory social media posts, Langlois said Bianca could be in danger of physical violence from ‘some crazy followers of Alice….who have drank her poison….who are angered by her posts and want to harm her (Bianca)’.

Gruffudd married Wallace in April last year and gave birth to their daughter Mila in November; They are seen in 2025

Gruffudd and Evans, who have daughters Ella, 16, and Elsie, 13, finalized their divorce in 2023 and have been locked in a bitter dispute over restraining orders, custody and money ever since.

Noting that Evans’ “relentless harassment campaign lasted five years from 2021 to 2025,” Langlois said Evans was “driven by an insatiable desire for revenge for her feelings about her divorce.”

‘Ioan and Bianca have a reasonable fear that Alice will continue her behavior given her numerous breaches of the restraining order.’

‘Alice cannot undo the damage she has done. ‘His derogatory posts on the internet will forever be visible to everyone.’

Langlois last week mocked Evans’ ‘unconvincing show’ of remorse and claims that he was sorry for the online abuse directed at Gruffudd and Wallace, saying: ‘His admissions were not good enough to prove he had moved on.

‘Alice has no real sense of remorse. He is still in denial and makes excuses for his abusive behavior. ‘He never took any steps to correct his abusive character.’

Evans’ lawyer Verano told the court “It was the end of Covid, he was isolated, he was facing the loss of his marriage” when Evans began the online harassment of Gruffudd in 2021.

Her hopes of reconciling with Gruffudd were ‘crushed’ when she discovered she was romantically involved with Wallace. “He was out of his mind, distraught,” Verano said.

But today her lawyer continued: ‘Alice is in a very different place. ‘He moved on with his life.’

Verano insisted that Evans’ harassing emails and messages had stopped. ‘There is no threat. ‘Alice has deactivated her Twitter account,’ he told the court.

He added that some of Evans’ recent social media posts ‘talked about what he was going through’ but they were not meant to disturb Ioan’s peace. Alice’s behavior has changed considerably.’

Verano, who told the court he lost his job because of the RO, said the three-year RO imposed on Evans in August 2022 affected his ability to work and travel. She also said that when flying to the US with her daughters, Evans and the girls were always detained at airports, ‘which frightened the girls because they were afraid they might end up in prison’.

The former couple met on the set of 102 Dalmatians in 1999 and married in 2007; seen in 2015

He said renewing the RO, which included a ‘stay away’ clause requiring Evans to stay 30 meters away from Gruffudd, would mean he would have to choose which parent would attend his daughters’ school graduations and other family events.

‘Alice is learning,’ Verano told the court, asking Judge Convey to deny Gruffudd’s request to renew the RO. “It has grown.”

Wednesday’s RO decision marks the end of the first phase of the hearing, which is expected to last nine days. In the second phase of this week, child and spousal support disputes of the former couple, who have been together for more than 20 years, will be discussed.

Evans claims he is broke and wants the court to order him to increase the $1,500 a month he pays his wife and the $3,000 a month he pays in alimony.

Gruffudd claims his daughters were ‘poisoned and alienated’ from him by their mother.

He wants to stop paying spousal support altogether ‘based on Alice’s persistent domestic abuse of him and her multiple violations of the restraining order’ and insists he has already ‘overpaid’ Evans by almost $400,000.