As we reported yesterday, Kelly Rutherford has lost a federal custody battle for her two children: son Hermes, 8, and daughter Helena, 5. Kelly’s legal argument centered around her claim that, by ordering the children to live with their father, a German man residing in Monaco, the custody judge had deported them. The federal court disagreed, stating in part that “the children have not been deported… [they] retain their United States citizenship.” The children live with their father, Daniel Giersch, who he was deported from the US in 2012 and is no longer allowed to travel there following a tip to the State Department from Kelly’s former divorce lawyer. Giersch is supposed to apply for another Visa but reports indicate that he has not followed up.

This may not be Kelly’s final legal option. Her friend, ABC News anchor Dan Abrams, indicated in an interview with Good Morning America yesterday that Kelly can still appeal to the California court system (Abrams previously wrote an editorial advocating for Kelly’s children to be returned to her and has appeared with her on other talk shows.) Kelly’s lawyer also indicate that she would continue to appeal. She told Fox News that “What we don’t understand is why they had to be sent to a foreign country. It’s an unprecedented cause and we’re not giving up…we will never give up.”

In her pre-taped interview with GMA, Kelly expressed her dismay at the ruling and stated that “Parents know — everyone knows it’s not right.” She also said that she cries frequently and that she misses things like “being able to bring them from school and pick them up from school, dress them, hug them, smell them.” It does sound devastating.

Kelly has a new interview with Hello! Magazine, and she expresses many of the same sentiments. She’s really hurting and upset. However she also claims that she’s taken the high road.

“I feel empty,” she said of decision.

“Just because kids don’t vote and pay taxes doesn’t mean they don’t have rights to be raised in their own country,” she shares exclusively in a sit-down interview at The Mark Hotel in New York just days after the ruling. “It’s a humanitarian issue. It’s a constitutional issue.”

“It doesn’t make sense. How did this even happen,” says Kelly. “At the end of the day, I’m a mother and a citizen of this country no matter what I do for a living. What I’m asking for is help.”

The actress fears her celebrity status may actually have hurt her in this case. “It’s a big misconception especially because of the character I played. Lily van der Woodsen and I had a big difference in money,” she explains of her wealthy, entitled Gossip Girl role. “[Daniel] just sued me until I had no more money.”

Kelly had to file for bankruptcy and her dwindling funds make it difficult to see her children, she says. “I go to visit them as often as I can afford to go, about once month to every six weeks,” she continues, having just returned from seeing them in France a few days before. “The longest I went was eight weeks because I couldn’t afford to pay my rent.”

Despite her heartbreak, the star’s number one priority is her children. “I want my kids to look back on this time and say, ‘Thank god mom didn’t say horrible things about dad and took the high road,’” she concludes. “Eventually they’re going to read about this and I want them to be healthy through this. They look to us to be the rock always and I take that responsibility seriously. Overall they know they’re loved.”

[Hello! Magazine]

Here’s the thing, her children don’t have just one country, “their own,” as Kelly puts it, they have two. Kelly’s children may have been born in the US but they are also German citizens due to their father’s nationality and they are free to live anywhere in the EU. This is not a “humanitarian” or a “constitutional” issue, this is a custody issue. Her kids are living with their family, including their father and paternal grandparents, in Monaco. This is the only way they could see their father unless they personally traveled to him. I don’t doubt that it’s very hard for Kelly to deal with not seeing her children, but I do think she’s totally full of it when she claims to have taken the high road.

According to People Magazine, during her custody battle, she “stated on the record that Daniel was dealing drugs and weapons in South America, which under the Victory Act is considered terrorism. Just the accusation is enough to revoke his visa.” Her own lawyer also tipped off the State Department. I get that she wants to have her children with her, it must be horrible not to see them, but she has not been taking “the high road” at all. Also, I read that her ex was ordered to pay for her flights to and from Monaco. I guess that’s not the case or that it doesn’t cover all her expenses.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com