Rumer Willis is asking a judge to keep her former partner’s visits with their 3-year-old daughter supervised, arguing that the transition toward unsupervised and overnight parenting time should be stopped for now.

Her ex, musician Derek Richard Thomas, is presenting a very different version of the dispute.

Thomas has accused Willis of interfering with his court-ordered relationship with their daughter, Louetta, while his attorney has denied the allegations Willis is now making in support of her emergency request.

The result is an increasingly tense custody battle in which both parents say they are trying to protect their relationship with the same child — but disagree sharply over what should happen next.

At the center of the dispute is one relatively simple question:

Should Thomas’s supervised visits now begin moving toward overnight time, as an earlier court arrangement anticipated?

Willis says no.

Thomas says she is improperly standing in the way.

Their Custody Arrangement Was Designed to Change Over Time

Willis, the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, welcomed Louetta with Thomas in April 2023.

After the couple’s relationship ended, their disagreements over parenting eventually moved into court.

A June 9 custody order gave Willis primary physical custody of Louetta while establishing a phased visitation arrangement for Thomas.

The structure was not intended to remain permanently at the supervised stage.

Thomas would begin with supervised visits, with the expectation that parenting time could later progress toward less restrictive visits and eventually overnight time if the process moved forward as ordered.

That progression is now precisely what Willis is asking the court to interrupt.

In an emergency filing, she requested that Thomas’s visits remain supervised and that overnight visits not begin until the court can hold another hearing and review the situation.

Her request is based on allegations that Thomas did not consistently follow the requirements of the June order and exercised judgment that she believes raised concerns about Louetta’s welfare.

Thomas disputes that characterization.

Willis Says Problems Emerged During the Supervised Period

Willis’s filing does not simply argue that she is uncomfortable with overnight visits.

She alleges that events during the supervised-visitation phase gave her reason to believe the transition should not continue as originally planned.

According to reports describing the court documents, Willis accused Thomas of repeated problems involving the conditions and arrangements surrounding his supervised parenting time.

Some of the disputes reportedly concerned where visits occurred and whether the agreed or ordered supervision requirements were being followed appropriately.

Those claims are central to her request because the supervised period was supposed to serve as the first step before greater independence.

From Willis’s perspective, the question is therefore not merely whether Thomas should eventually receive overnight time.

Her position is that the court should first determine whether the earlier phase was handled properly before allowing the next phase to begin.

She is asking for the existing supervision requirement to remain in place until that review occurs.

Importantly, those claims remain allegations made by Willis in an active legal dispute.

Thomas denies them.

Thomas Says Willis Is Preventing the Relationship the Court Ordered

Thomas’s side paints the conflict very differently.

Rather than viewing Willis as responding to genuine problems during visitation, he has previously accused her of making it difficult for him to exercise the access to Louetta that the court had already approved.

His filings have alleged that Willis interfered with his parenting time and obstructed the development of his relationship with their daughter.

That argument becomes particularly significant because the June arrangement was designed to progress.

If Thomas complied with the required steps, his side expected his parenting time to become less restrictive.

Willis’s new emergency request would stop that progression.

Thomas’s attorney has pushed back against her accusations and described her claims as false.

That leaves the court with two conflicting narratives.

Willis says circumstances during supervised visits demonstrate why additional safeguards are still necessary.

Thomas says Willis is using accusations to prevent the court-ordered parenting relationship from moving forward.

The Dispute Is Not Simply About Who Has Custody

Because Willis already has primary physical custody, the current fight is more specific than a broad battle over which parent Louetta will live with.

The conflict is about the conditions under which Thomas sees his daughter.

There is a significant practical difference between supervised visitation and unsupervised overnight parenting time.

Supervised visits mean another approved person is present during the contact.

Overnight visits would allow Thomas to care for Louetta for an extended period without that level of direct oversight.

For Willis, that transition is happening too soon given the conduct she alleges occurred during the earlier phase.

For Thomas, preventing the transition represents another obstacle to the relationship he says the court intended him to build with his daughter.

That distinction makes the next legal decision particularly important.

A judge does not necessarily have to resolve the parents’ entire custody dispute immediately.

But the court may have to decide whether the progression envisioned in June should continue or be paused.

Each Side Is Asking the Court to Believe a Different Explanation

Custody disputes can become difficult to follow when they involve multiple filings, temporary orders and competing accusations.

This one has a relatively clear dividing line.

Willis wants supervision to continue.

Thomas wants the process toward expanded parenting time to proceed.

But the reasons each side offers are almost opposites.

Willis says her request is a response to Thomas’s behavior during the period when visits were already being supervised.

Thomas says Willis herself has been the problem, accusing her of making it harder for him to use the parenting time the court granted.

The disagreement also underscores why allegations in family-court filings need to be treated carefully.

A claim appearing in a legal document is not automatically a finding by a judge.

Willis’s allegations are her account of what happened.

Thomas’s accusations about interference are his account.

Both remain disputed unless and until the court makes factual findings or the parties reach another agreement.

Louetta Remains at the Center of the Case

The public recognition surrounding Willis’s family makes the dispute unusually visible.

Her father, Bruce Willis, remains one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, while her mother, Demi Moore, has been a major movie star for decades.

But the legal questions now being considered have little to do with celebrity.

They concern a 3-year-old girl and two parents who disagree about what arrangement is appropriate for her.

Louetta was born in April 2023, and both Willis and Thomas have publicly shared their love for her since becoming parents.

Now the structure of Thomas’s future parenting time is being argued through court filings.

The immediate issue is not whether he will have a relationship with his daughter.

It is how that relationship should proceed and what restrictions, if any, should remain in place.

The Next Phase Is Now in Question

The June order appeared to provide a path forward.

Begin with supervision.

Then, if the arrangement progressed as anticipated, move toward greater parenting time.

Willis is now asking the court to stop that process before overnight visits begin.

Her argument is that what happened during the supervised stage created enough concern to justify another hearing first.

Thomas’s side rejects that account and argues that Willis has instead been interfering with the very relationship the court ordered.

That is what makes the case more complicated than a simple story of one parent asking for tighter restrictions.

Both parents are telling the court that the other person’s conduct is the reason the original arrangement is not working as intended.

The next decision will determine whether Thomas continues under supervision or whether the transition toward unsupervised and overnight time can move forward.

Until then, the central dispute remains unresolved.

Rumer Willis says the supervised phase produced reasons to slow things down.

Derek Richard Thomas says she is the one preventing the court-ordered relationship from progressing.

And now a judge will have to decide which version should shape what happens next.