Christina Ricci says her ex-husband didn’t help ‘at all’ with their baby

When Christina Ricci welcomed son Freddie in 2014, she says she felt very much like a single mom. At the time, she was married to camera and lighting technician James Heerdegen.

During a March 25 appearance on Shannen Doherty’s “Let’s Be Clear” Podcast, Ricci explained that Freddie, who is now 9, was never sleep-trained because she returned to work when he was an infant, and, according to her, Heerdegen refused to pitch in.

“My husband at the time, wouldn’t help me at all with anything,” Ricci, 44, said.

TODAY.com reached out to Heerdegen for comment, and did not hear back.

“I had to do all the night stuff and get up and go to work for 14 hours and be on camera,” she continued. “So, the only way to do that was to lie with him, and he would breastfeed whenever he wanted and sleep with me. I had to have him in my bed with me just to get enough sleep and be able to work the next day.”

“I was basically doing it all on my own, so that part is tough, but you just get through it,” she added. “You just keep going. I repeat to myself all the time, ‘It’s temporary.’”

Ricci filed for divorce from Heerdegen in 2020 after seven years of marriage. The following year, she obtained a restraining order against him, alleging “severe physical and emotional abuse.” Heerdegen denied all the allegations.

In 2021, Ricci tied the knot with hairstylist Mark Hampton. The couple share 2-year-old daughter, Cleopatra.

“Now I have a wonderful husband who does more,” Ricci told Doherty, noting that she began shooting Netflix's "Wednesday" when Cleopatra was 2 months old.

“Mark did every single night, all night long,” she said. “I just slept and went to work the next day. It made such a huge difference. It was so much easier this time around. You have to have a good supportive partner.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com