Kelly Rutherford: from Hollywood to Monaco, a mother’s incredible fight for her children
Kelly Rutherford © Terenzi Communications
The star of the hit series Gossip Girl unwillingly found herself caught in a years-long legal battle over the custody of her children, Hermés and Helena. After an epic battle and several legal missteps with devastating consequences, in Monaco Kelly Rutherford seems to have found a peaceful haven where she can rebuild and finally enjoy life alongside her children.
A Hollywood star, style icon, unofficial ambassador of quiet luxury, fashion and lifestyle influencer with 2.5 million Instagram followers and Monaco resident… Kelly Rutherford is all of that at once. Yet to see only the public figure is to overlook what matters most. The American actress is far more than a familiar face on television and cinema screens; she has come to embody something greater, almost sacrificial: the image of a courageous mother, willing to risk – and even lose – everything for her children.
It’s impossible to speak of Kelly Rutherford without recalling the battle that followed her divorce and set her against her former husband, Daniel Giersch. For years, she fought in courts across the world for custody of her two children, Hermés and Helena—sometimes clumsily, often to her own detriment, but always with the unyielding fire that only a mother’s love can ignite. Today, that chapter is behind her; Hermés and Helena have grown up, and Kelly enjoys a calm, quiet life in Monaco—at last. This is the story of her extraordinary journey.
From Gossip Girl star to mother in distress
Born in Kentucky on 6 November, 1968, Kelly Rutherford was drawn to acting from an early age, studying at HB Studio in New York and later at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles. She began appearing on television in the late 1980s, with roles in series such as Homefront and Melrose Place, and went on to play Christine Hamilton in the horror film Scream 3. But 2007 was the year that her career truly took off, when she landed the role of Lily van der Woodsen in the Gossip Girl series (2007–2012). On screen, she portrayed a glamorous mother navigating New York high society after five marriages.
In real life as well, Kelly Rutherford is a mother. After a first and brief marriage to a Venezuelan banker, the actress married German businessman Daniel Giersch in 2006: “I thought he was cute, incredibly charming, a little bit of a playboy,” she would later confide to Vanity Fair. Barely two months after they met, Kelly was pregnant with their first child, Hermés, born in October 2006. But the relationship deteriorated; Daniel, according to his wife, became increasingly “cold,” “calculating” and even “verbally abusive,” allegedly attempting to distance her from her family and close friends.
In December 2008, while three months pregnant for the second time, Kelly Rutherford’s husband filed for divorce. The actress sought joint custody, which Daniel Giersch refused, enlisting the formidable Fahi Takesh Hallin, a California attorney specialising in international family law.
On 8 June 2009, Kelly Rutherford gave birth to Helena in a Los Angeles hospital. Despite the turmoil, she sought to balance filming and motherhood: deeply attached to her children, she brought them with her on the set of Gossip Girl, breastfeeding her daughter between takes. “She was a very devoted and passionate mother,” recalled Stephanie Savage, the show-runner, in Vanity Fair, noting that “her absolute priority was always her children.”
2010–2012: A legal ordeal
How can you give everything for your children, only to see them taken away – and in full view of the world? That was the paradox Kelly Rutherford faced as, in the early 2010s, she embarked on a gruelling legal ordeal marked by obstacles and setbacks of every kind. After the divorce, both parents fought over custody of Hermés and Helena – sadly, an all too common battle. The first, and most damaging, misstep came during a hearing on 12 December 2011, before the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Without warning his client beforehand, one of Kelly Rutherford’s lawyers called the U.S. State Department from the courtroom, in an attempt to prove that Daniel Giersch was residing illegally in the United States and might therefore abduct his children. Far from helping his client’s case, the move backfired: in its 28 August 2012 ruling, the Los Angeles Superior Court found that, since his visa had been revoked, Daniel Giersch had no legal means of entering the United States and therefore no way to see his children there. The children were placed in their father’s custody, residing between France and Monaco during the school year.
The tactical blunder by Kelly Rutherford’s legal team proved devastating. Not only was she portrayed in court as the less cooperative parent, but she effectively lost custody of Hermés and Helena, permitted to see them just one weekend out of three – if she was willing to cross the Atlantic. Unsurprisingly, the strain of such a life soon weighed heavily on her finances. In May 2013, Rutherford filed for bankruptcy, burdened with $2 million in debt, at least $1.5 million of it tied to legal fees from her battle with her ex-husband.
2013–2015: From Monaco to New York, the case goes international
Although financially ruined, forced to live in a tiny Manhattan apartment and with her career stalled, Kelly Rutherford did not give up. Nor did she give up on her children: while they had been living in Monaco with their father since 2012, the actress was granted temporary sole custody in May 2015. But Giersch countered and once again the children’s return to their homeland was blocked. In mid-July, the Los Angeles Superior Court declared that it no longer had jurisdiction over the dispute, followed days later by a New York court doing the same.
The legal “void” led to the actress’s second misstep. “No one in this country seems willing or able to do anything to help my American children come home,” said Rutherford, calling the situation a “legal kidnapping.” Keeping this conundrum in mind, while Monaco’s courts had authorised her to bring the children to the United States for five weeks in June 2015 on 7 August, the star refused to put Hermés and Helena on the plane back to Monaco. “If no state in this country protects my children,” she argued, “that also means no state can compel me to send them back,” she told the press. On the surface, her reasoning might have seemed sound—but in reality, it was illegal.
Four days later on 11 August, the New York Supreme Court, acting on a habeas corpus petition filed by Giersch’s lawyer, ordered that Hermés and Helena be immediately handed over to their paternal grandmother, waiting in the courtroom with three plane tickets in hand. It was back to Monaco for the children, while their devastated mother shared her “shock (…) : it’s simply inconceivable,” she said tearfully as she left the courthouse. A few months later, in December 2015, Monegasque courts confirmed custody for Daniel Giersch, restricting the children’s travel outside France and Monaco. The end – for now, at least – of a long and exhausting international legal saga.
Monaco, a sanctuary after the storm
More out of necessity than choice, Kelly Rutherford had to reorganise her life around the Principality to stay close to her children. How could she rebuild after such an ordeal? Where could she find peace when the paparazzi tracked her every move for years, the press feasting on her legal and family setbacks? Against all odds, Kelly Rutherford seems to have found refuge in…Monaco, while still maintaining visitation rights and involvement in her children’s schooling and health. And, it seems, for the better.
In a September 2024 interview with Travel+Leisure, the American star spoke about her Monegasque life. And her new life is “actually quite peaceful,” she said, “the opposite of what everyone thinks it is (…).It’s a place you can come and really just be quiet.” It’s a welcome and well-deserved respite after years of media exposure. Her daily life? “I just walk the dogs, hang out with the kids, and run errands,” she told Travel+Leisure. And while she admits to attending art previews and social events in the Principality from time to time, “I’ll go just to see,” she said.
However, the fashionista has not put aside her legendary sense of style and the “places to be,” instead quickly establishing herself as the perfect local guide to life in Monaco. Her favourite spots are the cove near the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel, the organic café Woo on Rue Princesse Caroline, or the Cova pastry shop, a historic LVMH brand brought to the Principality through a partnership with Flavio Briatore, whom we profiled in May 2024. Kelly also appreciates Monaco’s “extraordinary” art scene, as well as the city-state’s strategic location, which allows quick access to Europe’s main capitals.
Hermés and Helena: “get on with your life, Mum”
Far from the spotlight, Kelly Rutherford? A leopard can’t change its spots: while the actress keeps a low profile in Monaco, she remains active on social media, where she delights fans with regular selfies… in her lift. By her own admission, Kelly Rutherford is advised by her daughter Helena on how to take the best pictures and continues to cultivate her image as a fashion icon as a muse of both minimalist and understated luxury, aligned with the quiet luxury trend of clean lines and quality materials. In short, she’s a modern muse coveted by the front rows of the world’s top designers including Dior, Elie Saab, Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture and more.
In January, Kelly Rutherford appeared in public with her son Hermés at Paris Fashion Week – a first in ten years. Mother and son made another notable appearance this summer in Saint-Tropez at the second edition of the Summer Gala by Gala One.
But she’s not left Monaco events out: last April, the American actress was awarded a Fashion Icon Award at the tenth edition of Monte-Carlo Fashion Week and in June graced the opening ceremony of the 63rd Monte-Carlo Television Festival. “My kids are getting older, and they’re sort of like, ‘Okay, get on with your life,’” the actress told People in February 2024. Perhaps, between Monaco, her children and her passion for fashion, Kelly Rutherford has finally found the peace she has always sought.