Last year, Paul Staehle and Karine Martins teamed up to fight to regain custody of their sons, Pierre and Ethan.
The quasi-estranged spouses lost custody separately — months apart — in 2021 and 2022. They want to get them back.
For months, Paul has (perhaps unwisely) publicly railed about family court, CPS, and the judge presiding over their case.
This week, he and Karine attended a new hearing — one that could have far-reaching consequences for them and their children.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, January 10, Paul Staehle took to his Instagram Story to share some news.
“Tomorrow is court to determine the future of my children,” he announced to fans and followers.
“I will attend virtually with Karine,” Paul shared. “We pray for the best.”
Before and after that post, Paul shared Stories that appeared to be paid promotions.
It is possible that these were scheduled posts. Or even that an outside company (as is sometimes the case with 90 Day Fiance alums) has access to post on Paul’s behalf.
Similarly, we all know that even parents fighting custody battles must generally continue to work. Even if that “work” involves social media promotions.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, Karine Martins took to Instagram with a more practical post.
“Help me,” the link that she shared to her Story reads, alongside an invitation to “click here!”
The link leads to Karine’s GoFundMe. Its purpose is to raise money for her and Paul’s ongoing custody battle.
At present, she is only a little over three-fifths of the way towards her $5,000 goal.
Obviously, a lot of 90 Day Fiance fans who have followed Paul and Karine’s extremely highs and lows have complex feelings about the idea of donating.
Many hearts ache for how Karine is feeling right now. At the same time, a lot of people are unsure if reuniting the family is what is best for Ethan and Pierre.
Karine first lost custody of the couple’s sons in late 2021. It was around the time of some pretty major conflict with Paul.
A video that many fans conclude could only have originated with Paul himself (he obsessively surveils his home and has for years) appeared to show Karine abusing him.
It is always possible that the video was misleading. But the couple did seem to have conflict in front of their children. People assume that this played a role in Karine’s custody loss.
Paul, however, maintained custody for months — only losing it late in the spring of 2022.
He has given several versions of why he lost custody, whether it stemmed from his interstate travel with Pierre or allowing the boys to see Karine without supervision or Karine allegedly accusing him of threatening her life (WTF?).
We don’t know which version of Paul’s story to believe, if any. But CPS removed Pierre and Ethan from his care.
As is his habit, Paul has had a tremendous amount to share (and overshare) over the course of all of this.
He has teamed up with Karine to fight for custody, even though they are (as far as we know) still exes.
Paul also took a work trip to Brazil without his semi-estranged wife. Oh, and while he was there, he filmed for his OnlyFans page with Karine’s male cousin.
Paul and Karine did not offer any immediate, concrete updates following Wednesday’s hearing. Perhaps there was no news, or perhaps the court ordered them to stop talking about it in public.
We suspect that when there is news to share and he is able to share it, Paul will speak out.
In the mean time, if you’re anything like we are, you’ll keep checking Paul, Karine, and blogger John Yates’ respective pages for updates. Or just follow us at The Hollywood Gossip. We will certainly let know when there’s news.
Paul Staehle and Karine Martins Custody Hearing: This Will Decide Our Kids’ Future! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .