After the latest round of conflict between Meghan King and Jim Edmonds, it’s clear that the divorce fallout isn’t going away.
As Vicki Gunvalson infamously predicted, the two of them remained married for almost exactly five years. Right now, it looks like their conflict could last even longer.
It’s not just that they have a lot of hurt feelings or that co-parenting is difficult.
Meghan is accusing Jim of “coercive control” after his very public claims about their custody situation.
On Wednesday, February 15, Meghan King took to her Instagram Story to discuss something painful.
Wiping away tears, she lamented how “nobody really talks about coercive control and the after effects of divorce.” That was just the beginning.
“People say, ‘It’ll get better in time. It’ll get better with time,’” Meghan noted. “It’s been three years.”
Online resources refer to coercive control as tactics — ranging from violence to humiliation — with the intention of harming, punishing, or frightening the target.
The implication is that her ex-husband is allegedly using their remaining ties to punish her.
“’When? What time do I have to wait for?’” Meghan asked. “The lawyers told me that. My parents and coordinator, everyone told me that. It’s worse.”
Meghan did not delve into details of her allegations. It is possible that she is referring to some sort of not-yet-public dispute. If so, her attorney would certainly counsel her against discussing it in public rather than in court.
At the same time, it is very possible that Meghan is referring, at least in part, to things that we have already heard.
Jim Edmonds has badmouthed her in almost every conceivable way since the two divorced. It has, as she noted, been years.
Recently, Jim accused Meghan — on his own and more explicitly through a rep — of going on a “narcisism retreat.”
Allegedly, he changed his Superbowl plans to spend time with the kids, but was unable to. The kids spent that time with a nanny. According to him, anyway.
Obviously, we cannot verify any part of that, really. But that is what Jim has claimed.
The “narcisism retreat” that he describes was just … Meghan taking a trip to Sedona, Arizona.
Perhaps her statement that she “finally found the love of my lifetime: my own self-love,” was what prompted that comment.
“I opened a new chapter this past weekend, one where I solidified my footprint in the entrepreneurial arena as well as the love department,” Meghan said after the trip.
“I am in love …. After trauma (that still continues), after divorce,” Meghan noted.
“After everything I’m still standing … IN SEDONA in the center of a vortex,” she characterized.
“No one tells me I can’t do something. I have balls, I have grit, and I will keep on keeping on,” Meghan vowed.
“Sending up a million prayers of gratitude because words are failing me,” she then announced.
It is not unusual for exes to loathe each other. Because our society discourages divorce and makes it financially and socially difficult, people often only end a marriage as a last resort.
This means that people seldom divorce simply because they no longer wish to be married. They often divorce because they cannot stand the thought of remaining married. And if they don’t hate each other by that point, well, the grueling divorce process can bring out the worst in people.
Meghan and Jim are far from the first pair of bitter exes to struggle with co-parenting issues.
But, even if they aren’t letting their accusatory statements bleed over into how they talk around their kids, this can all impact their children.
We hope that they are both still thinking of their children as their first priority.