NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Jason Kidd's estranged wife has charged that the New Jersey Nets' star physically abused her and cheated on her throughout their 10-year marriage.
In responding to divorce papers Jason Kidd filed last month, Joumana Kidd asserted that her husband's "numerous liaisons and perpetual physical and emotional abuse" led to the breakdown of their marriage.
Jason Kidd's lawyer said Friday that the "bizarre allegations will be proven false."
In answering her husband's divorce petition, Joumana Kidd requested that they be given joint legal custody of their three children, but that the children live with her. She also seeks child support, alimony and monetary compensation for the injuries and trauma she suffered.
Joumana Kidd's petition, filed Thursday in state Superior Court for Bergen County, said she was the victim of "recurring physical abuse and serial infidelity." They had been living together in Saddle River.
The 27-page document related a series of alleged attacks in which Jason Kidd punched, kicked or choked her, once giving her a concussion by striking her with a candlestick.
Jason Kidd's lawyer, Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, in a statement, called the filing "retaliatory and gratuitously nasty."
"It contains a fantastical array of information that is exaggerated, manipulated or just plain fabricated," Marzano-Lesnevich said.
She filed a response Friday in which Jason Kidd denies all the allegations of abuse and unfaithfulness.
Joumana Kidd, in her filing, charged that her husband was unable to restrain his violent urges and was "habitually unfaithful" even after committing himself to Christianity in November 2004.
She said he has admitted to affairs with numerous women "including strippers in Arizona, Sacramento, Miami, Dallas and Indiana," as well as a Nets season-ticket holder, a Nets employee, a cheerleader in New Orleans, and women named "Petra" and "Lisa," according to her filing.
As part of his repeated efforts to apologize, Jason Kidd bought his wife a $585,000 pink diamond ring in March 2004 and a $555,000 diamond pendant in June 2004, according to Joumana Kidd's court papers.
Despite their difficulties, Joumana Kidd said she was stunned by his divorce filing, asserting they had recently discussed renewing their marriage vows and buying a vacation home in Mexico.
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