Jennifer Hudson Splits From David Otunga, Files Protective Order

David Otunga and longtime fiancé Jennifer Hudson have split up and Hudson has filed a protective order against the WWE Superstar.

Hudson’s publicist told People on Thursday that the two have been in the process of ending their relationship and she filed a protective order against him earlier in the day. The two had been a couple for nearly 10 years.

Tracy M. Rizzo, Otunga’s attorney, countered to People, claiming Hudson is making up a story in order to gain custody of the couple’s eight-year-old son, David Otunga Jr.

“David Otunga has been trying to negotiate the terms of an amicable parenting agreement with Ms. Hudson for several weeks now. However, when it became apparent to Ms. Hudson that Mr. Otunga would be the parent granted residential care of the child, as a result of Mr. Otunga being the child’s primary caregiver while Ms. Hudson pursues her career all over the world, Ms. Hudson decided to file a meritless Petition for Order of Protection in an effort to gain an unfair advantage in the custody dispute.

“As a result of Mr. Otunga’s career in the WWE, Ms. Hudson felt that she could give an award winning performance in court to portray herself as the victim. Mr. Otunga has never abused or harassed Ms. Hudson or their son, and it is unfortunate, especially in today’s climate, that she would feel the need to make these false allegations against him. Mr. Otunga looks forward to his day in court and in being awarded the residential care of the parties’ only child.”

After retiring from active competition in 2015, Otunga moved to commentary and a pre-show panelist position, most recently for the Raw brand — he appeared on the WWE TLC Kickoff panel last month. The 37-year-old was the runner-up on the first year of the NXT competition and was part of the big Nexus angle.