The Respondent: Exposing the Cartel of Family Law

by Greg Ellis, Alec Baldwin (Foreword), Johnny Depp (Introduction)

With The Exposing the Cartel of Family Law , Hollywood veteran Greg Ellis delivers a gripping, unvarnished first-person account of family breakdown and the social, political, and legal forces that are fueling this national health emergency. It further exposes and condemns a gender bias that presumes that fathers are less effective caregivers. Family breakdown is the single greatest threat to American society. Every day, more than 4,000 children lose a parent because of our archaic and inhumane family-court system. Every day, ten divorced men commit suicide. And now, one in three children in our country are without their father. The Respondent is Ellis's personal story about a Hollywood dream razed by internal and external forces. Part memoir, part meditation, and part manifesto, it's a timely and heartrending portrait of perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of the American legal system. Through its candor and moral strength, The Respondent offers guidance and hope. As such, it's an indispensable read for not only parents enduring the grief of child separation, but all interested in learning about the gross overreach and unrelenting brutality of family law.

Genres: Nonfiction

278 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2021

Reviews

[Clay Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very bad book cover. A husband would find the information in this book very useful. I admire the author naming names in Hollywood who damaged his career. There is a very bad picture of the author on the back page.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are terrible injustices every day to parents who deserve to have their children in their lives but cannot do so because of the court system. Parental alienation is very real.....and it is extremely damaging to all involved. I went through it myself as a child when my father and I didn't see each other for nearly 10 years. I agree.....The system needs to change.

But that's where my belief in what is between the pages of this book ends:

Ellis wants us to believe he is one of the victims, but his story wasn't ringing true to me. In doing some research on my own, I'm seeing a completely different narrative within the court transcripts....and some of his own admissions that he now denies or excuses away. For instance, he doesn't tell us that he admitted to having cocaine.....or even taking cocaine....prior to firing the children's nanny when his wife was out of town which left him alone with their children. He also makes the breaking & entering of their home seem like the act of a man just desperate to talk to his wife......Not that he terrorized them, made the house alarm go off, would control the lighting in their house with an app on his phone to scare them, etc. These are only two of several incidents he excuses away. To believe Ellis story to is believe that absolutely everyone in his life turned against him for no reason: His wife of 20 years, friends, coworkers, attorneys, psychiatrists, social workers, and the LAPD. And they all did so because her story was more believable than his.

Could it be perhaps her story held more truth than his? Could it be that everyone realized what was really going on and protecting the children was what they were trying to do when he refused treatment? It deserves consideration at the very least.

It also appears Ellis is using Johnny Depp's name and the very real struggles Depp has faced in recent years by being falsely accused of horrendous acts of violence against his ex wife to peddle his book and make us think their stories are similar. They are not similar....Not even close.

So buyer beware. Or at the very least, do some research of your own before believing the tale he weaves in this book.

[Char Nokomis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It’s harrowing, but somehow inspirational and educational at the same time. Greg’s battle to see his kids might be the rawest element of the story, the pain of his struggle etched on his soul, the length of the fight having stretched on longer than most of us can imagine. But in the end, Greg’s search for practical answers and strength and dignity in the twilight of a fading family, makes this a special book.

[l]

johnny depp writes an introduction to a junk mra book. unbelievable pathetic from an unbelievably pathetic and repugnant and unrepetant wifebeating piece of shit.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest and heartbreaking look at the “cartel” of family law. Ellis’s story is dark and rage inducing to read, but familiar if you have been through anything similar. It’s incredible to see the patterns emerge from the story. His explorations of the problems are well done, and he doesn’t lean too far into solutions, but he really has his pulse on the central problems of the divorce law industry and the corruption of child protective services and agencies (DCFS, CYS, CPS, etc.). Massive reform is needed.

His chapter on the funeral for his sons is heart rending as he closes the book. It’s a dark finish to a very dark story. When the book starts you feel he’s leaving important points out, but they fill in later. To arrive at the end with the brokenness of himself and the sacrifice to let his children go for their own well-being is near heroic lengths that I understand having seen more than a few mothers and fathers arrive in the same position. But to read about it being necessary is still hard.

He also covered it with an emphasis on men and fathers which is important, but I’ve watched my wife go through the exact same thing as a woman. In many ways the cartel doesn’t care about gender, it just wants to exercise its control and make its money no matter who is The Respondent.

[Lillie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful book. It has you crying at points and horrified at other points. What is wrong with our Family court system? Could they not see the lies and stories of a disturbed person in front of them? How could they allow children to be raised by what is clearly a very disturbed human being? And at the same time destroy a loving father's life? And to think how many father's are going through this now because their partners wouldn't sit down and work things outside of a courtroom. And the most terrifying nightmare I walk away with from this book is the kids! If their Mother was willing to lie in the courtrooom what else is she capable of and how are those children being raised?

[Miss T · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart wrenching read, powerful and emotional. A deep dive into the darkness that is divorce, exposing the corruption within the system. My heart goes out to Greg and his boys. Thank you Greg for honesty and for bringing this to light.

[Mark French · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutal look at divorce, divorce courts, and how easily marriage can fall apart and how it affects not just our families, but our friends and co workers

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book, actor Greg Ellis (born Jonathan Rees) claims that he is a victim of false accusations and the "biased family court system" (the "cartel" of the title). According to him, his now ex-wife falsely accused him of domestic violence, poisoned his children against him, and conspired with others to portray him as violent and unstable. A temporary restraining order was issued, and he was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold, during which time he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and narcissistic tendencies, but Ellis denies that he has any mental health issues, and it has not served him well. In his mind, the family court system is biased in favor of women and discriminatory toward men, and that was why he lost visitation rights. However, the court documents, which can be found online, paint a different picture. There is evidence that Ellis, on at least two occasions, posed a threat to his children and his ex-wife (in one of which, he violated the Emergency Protective Order issued against him); he didn't want to heed the advice of his attorneys, and he refused to share any mental health records to the court to prove that he was mentally healthy. It was by his own actions that his visitation rights were taken away, but by using a victim narrative, he is portraying his version of events as if it represents the majority of US custody and/or family court cases (which can be easily disproven via statistics). The fact that two of his fellow actors who wrote the introduction and the forward to the book respectively - Johnny Depp and Alec Baldwin - have a similar mindset is very telling.

[JD' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greg Ellis just finished writing the screen play to The Respondent yesterday on Oct 3, 2022.
I belive this will be movie 🎬 of the year.. even if it doesn't win any Oscar's, it will be the single most important classic of our day, like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" that will sum up the history exposing the cartel of family law corruption in a single movie / documentary.
I had the honor through a local friend in Vegas of getting to talk to Greg Ellis on the phone a few nights ago and he sounds exactly like the audiobook which I just finished reading last week. Greg Ellis is down to earth, passionate with a heart that simply wants to be a father to his boys. His book is the Robert Caro "Power Broker" of its day, based on a true life story, a memoir that will single handedly bring a resistance and revolution to this world that will help so many of us parents who have lost everything... and allow us to get back into the lives of our children.
After the Bible, this is the most important read of my life! I recommend this book to everyone except 3rd and 4th wave feminists.

[Donna Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Wasn't sure what to expect but this is very interesting and also very sad at the same time. Would recommend that everyone should read this as it gives an insight from the male prospective on how things can escalate so quickly without cause.

[Adam Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was harrowing depiction of the family law system in America.

[Simon Omnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my life, I have seen couples divorce for various reasons. Family members, friends’ parents, artists that I like, and other friends whose divorces created quite an impact on relatives; alongside various behaviors from the divorcees. From some people, civility and kindness toward the other parent, alongside attempts to not create a public war before the kids. But on other family sides, I saw parents who refused to talk to one another and used their kid as the message transmitter using phrases like “Tell your mom that…” or “Tell your dad that!”. Worse is when I saw parents using their public voice to attack their ex-husband or ex-wife in public. With one artist even using its work to directly attack and insult their ex; which I found so disgusting as the kid is seeing their parent making money by insulting the other one. So regarding divorces, I was not surprised by the content in Greg Ellis’s podcast where he spoke, among many topics, of the family court law and the troubles he endured there as he and his wife were divorcing and he endured a nightmarish procedure.

A situation that he describes in full detail in The Respondent: Exposing the Cartel of Family Law. A book I read in multiple reading sessions as the content is difficult, hard, and disturbing as what the actor endured from his ex-wife and her family is nightmarish. Starting from a police call fuelled by a horrible allegation to a sent up at a horrible psychiatric institution where he was jailed for several days, it is from this March 5 2015 moment that Greg Ellis discovers that his wife is divorcing him, doing everything she can to hurt him. Amongst many things, taking from him their kids, using various medical and legal experts to demonize him; affecting his career, his health, his interactions within Hollywood and friends around him who are pressured and brainwashed by his ex-wife into an untrue image of himself debunked by psychological experts who defend him. And though his kids defend their father before councilors, Greg Ellis encounters other obstacles. From the judges, his wife’s attorney, and the many legal restrictions imposed during this terrible ordeal. Discovering the disturbing misandrist culture within the family court system, where mothers have more voice and support from court of laws and judges than men/fathers who are treated like monsters and the unique cause of a family’s divorce.

Of that misandry culture, it does not surprise me as it was presented in movies that recounted the experience of family divorce, but also denounced by artists I know who refused to embark into such war games and established proper and civil divorce procedures; with one actress (Vanessa Redgrave) expressing in her autobiography how she, her ex-husband Tony Richardson, and her eventual husband Franco Nero, despised all these career-driven mothers who use divorce procedures to demonize the father and to swindle from him money and his rights to spend equal time with his kids.

So within this book, we discover the psychological and physical trials Greg Ellis went through during his divorce. Written in a concise prose without unnecessary descriptions; everything is given as it is. Hard to read content that is necessary as we discover his plights. Stuff that I admit would give serious nightmares for readers who are not prepared for the book’s content.

And among the most shocking details, it is disturbing how some of Greg Ellis’s friends abandoned him and treated him like a guilty man. Though it is not as surprising as I having seen online several Hollywood celebs demonize others according to hate trends; whether these demonized celebs are accused of something without any visual/audio proofs, are villified by current media, or have expressed online a truth that displeases Hollywood’s cliques and endangers their trends. Which I witnessed for the last few years on social media; motivating me to reduce my interactions with Hollywood artists as their behaviors exhibited something creepy that discouraged me to see their work or to interact with them.

Furthermore, the book presents medical and psychological reports that examine Greg Ellis’s medical and psychological statuses and his interactions with his kids; alongside great bibliography resources as he presents serious facts about our society and court systems and how they affect men and fathers' rights. By the way, it is much easier to access these articles if you use the e-book as it offers clickable web links.

So this book is a chance for Greg Ellis to recount his experience within the family court and defend his name as it affected his career and Hollywood interactions, but it also allows him to confront the cultures of misandry and toxic femininity; two serious topics neglected by current media platforms. With some reporters/celebs saying that they don’t exist and that anyone who dares to mention those two topics are misogynists who silence the voices of women. Which is horrible and insulting as some of the most important victims of toxic femininity are women themselves.

For as a reader, I saw various female authors doing important works denouncing misandry and toxic femininity. Like Amélie Nothomb’s novel Antechrista who deals with a female university student who bullies and torments daily her newest friend; or Riyoko Ikeda’s manga/anime series Oniisama Ee which confronts the bullying tactics within female private schools’ classes and their sororities. Even the comic book artist Marjane Satrapi, who was once on a French TV show, expressed her anger at this idea vehiculated by society that all women are creatures of purity and kindness incapable of hurting others. So she recounted on TV many instances of women assaulting men; saying that when you give somebody (woman or man) the power to hurt another human being, he or she will hurt the other individual, regardless of their sex.

Furthermore, human resources experts are denouncing the women who work like Queen Bees, saying that these career-driven women are high school bullies in disguise who impose their work ideas on others and torment female and male employees who disagree with them. (https://www.hcamag.com/ca/news/genera... . https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/...)

Even the attacks Johnny Depp experienced in 2020 from certain UK feminists/female politicians/refuges/women associations/Rita Skeeters/media are disturbing and worth denouncing as they relate to what Greg Ellis speaks in his book. Indeed, all of these detractors’ attacks exposed their misandry toward male victims like Johnny Depp, but also their toxic femininity as they ignored the voices of all the female police officers who defend Johnny Depp, all the women who saw Amber Heard assault Johnny, and of the assistant Kate James who denounced Amber Heard as an abusive bully who tormented her and exploited her son. Worse is the closeted misogyny several of these detractors exhibited as they insulted all the women/feminists/victims of domestic violence who defended Johnny Depp; saying that all these female activists were not real women, but instead 50-year-old cows who only do their Johnny Depp activism because they hope he will have sex with them one day. A misogynist attack — intercepted by several female Johnny Depp activists who gave strong replies to these bullies — that also confirms what I always suspected. Which is that several feminist groups harbor not only misandrist ideologies, but also misogynistic prejudices that they use on other women/feminists who don’t think like them.

So regarding Greg Ellis’s book, I applaud what he writes here and I encourage everyone to purchase it. For he gives a voice to men and women silenced by actual media currents that propagate the idea that women are eternal victims incapable of hurting others and that men are pathological bullies and monsters who always hurt everybody. A media ideology I find so offensive since many years ago, I was friends online with a very toxic and abusive female celebrity who was horrible upon others, and her way of life and education upon her kids was a misandrist ideology that hurts them.

So if you are interested in men's rights and father's rights, but also on the serious topics of toxic femininity and misandry, this book is a must to purchase.

[John Asnath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The shocking story of a mans experience of the Family Law DV system in California.
However I can tell you that these are mostly common experiences worldwide.
Anyone in the Men's rights movement knows that the silver bullets mentioned are shot in almost every family law case. They are nothing more than dirty tactics to put men at disadvantage, and they work the majority of the time.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone going through the family court system or for anyone that has a loved one going through the family court system.

I found it to be a great resource and source of comfort through a truly painful time.

It is good to know there are others out there facing similar battles while going through such a tremendously isolating and painful experience.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be of interest to anyone who truly wants justice for everyone in our courts and to anyone, like me, who had no idea what was happening in the family court system. Thanks to the author for chronicling and sharing his own (heartbreaking) experience.

[Melanie Leek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

Amazing read…it really gives great insight on what’s going on in family dynamics today!! Greg is a true inspiration!!! It will help all of us.

[ALM · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s telling — and perhaps ironic — that Greg Ellis consistently appears as the respondent in his own legal matters. From his highly publicized 2015 divorce to the numerous civil and criminal cases that have followed, Ellis has almost invariably been the party answering allegations rather than advancing claims. That fact alone frames both his narrative and his purported mission to reform the system.

Having followed Ellis for some time — through media interviews, public statements, and repeated courtroom entanglements — I find The Respondent less a substantive critique of family law and more a self‑styled brief of personal vindication. From a professional perspective, Ellis demonstrates a recurring pattern of conduct that would test even the most seasoned counsel: frequent substitution of attorneys, rhetorical or emotionally charged pleadings, and an apparent resistance to procedural boundaries.

Public records indicate that around the time of his divorce, Ellis cycled through multiple attorneys, several of whom later sued him for unpaid legal fees. The pattern appears to persist. He will sometimes appear in court with newly retained counsel who soon thereafter files a motion to withdraw, citing a breakdown in communication and unpaid fees. Ellis then proceeds pro se until he secures yet another lawyer — typically one unfamiliar with his procedural history — and the cycle repeats. In recent years, similar tactics seem to have reappeared in cases filed across multiple jurisdictions.

It also appears that the nonprofit organization Ellis founded, Children and Parents United, a 501(c)(3) he once promoted as part of his reform efforts, is now inactive or has otherwise ceased operations. That development further underscores the dissonance between the image he presents publicly and the record reflected across his professional and legal affairs.

From a practitioner’s standpoint, Ellis represents a quintessential problem client: one who manipulates representation, injects unnecessary motion practice, and undermines legitimate advocacy efforts by confusing personal grievance with systemic critique.

While The Respondent brands itself as an exposé of a “cartel” within family law, it ultimately reads as a personalized defense brief against perceived injustice. Its occasional valid observations are buried beneath layers of self‑justification and deflection.

Ultimately, the book functions less as a platform for reform and more as an example of litigant recidivism — a recurring, self‑perpetuating cycle of litigation that any prospective counsel or judicial officer would recognize, and approach, with caution.

[Dixie Normous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine....pick a date, any date....Imagine on that date you lost access to your kids, were arrested, held against you will, told you're a danger to your kids, and have severe mental issues requiring medication, and your bank account is emptied, and you are not only locked out of your house but are not allowed to even step foot on your own property. Imagine everything you own is now gone, most if not everyone you know either disappeared from your life or became hostile or indifferent to you. Why not throw on accusations that you beat your spouse, and just so you don't feel lonely we'll have you under surveillance both by professional investigators, and by the very people who are telling you they are there to ensure the "best interest of your children", who by the way, are now being fed a steady stream of psychological damage and misinformation to isolate their relationship from you. Well, you shouldn't really move on without people who spent years telling you they had your back and were your best friends, and co-workers leave a few knives in your back too. If this weren't enough, lets put you in a system that will charge you $300-$1000 an hour to "help" you, which will take years to resolve even the most trivial details. Oh, and you can't act outraged at any of this. Actually, I could go on but lets put a cherry on it.....all this can be your for the low, low price of: Because someone decided to.

Welcome to the world of modern family law.

I have never heard of Greg Ellis, ever. He appeared on the "Order of Man" podcast to talk about this book, and what he went though during his divorce. Turns out he's an actor who's been in some well know movies, lives down the street from other A-List actors. Here's a guy loaded down with wealth, in a posh community, with powerful social circles around him, and the next day he's homeless, kidless, jobless, and behind bars.

Thing is, about half of this countries men go though this very situation, and now here's someone at the top of the world trying to tell us the system it broken. Anyway...solid read, can stab at one's heart at times. Check it out.

[Cait ♡ MintedReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

RED PILL PLEASE.

I am a woman, and I have been through real domestic violence; severe emotional and mental abuse (not just a man saying no or having a different opinion or thinking his money is my money etc), physical abuse (not just a light slap in the moment on the arm or butt) and more DV. When my ex and I broke up I would have told you the system is not biased as during the last incident I did fight back and left scratches on his chest; the police put a basic good behaviour order on me for him, I had a no-contact order after he breached the order several times. I am lucky, we never had children...

On to my current partner; the man that opened my eyes to the bias in not only Family Law but civil and criminal too. He had injuries on him and police only gave him a 10-minute call and classed it as an investigation. They didn't want him to contest the order which is apparent when he told the duty lawyer he was innocent and got back "No such thing as innocent in civil court, Consent without admissions". Then the bias in family court is....astonishing. She can break the order, harras him using the DVO (which she is then breaching the Family Court Order), withhold the kids as the child support agency deems he does not need to pay her (extortion) and lie (commit perjury in courts which is all documented in affidavits + her reason of an extended DVO is something she harrassed him to do - take his furniture)... But no lawyer wants to hear his evidence, or this or it doesn't matter at this time.

MRAs are just as important as WRAs and they have every right to be heard and not beaten upon.

when I became a stepmum the lack of equality dawned on me and Father’s issues affected my life directly, and they affect many women, one whom I seek daily as I try to navigate loving a man that had a life before me (as did I) and the following is part of her text which just captures part of my views I create now that I have eyes wide open to the true inequality-

"As a true feminist, I stand with fathers who simply want to be equal parents to their children.

And as a woman with a very realistic view of what the future holds for us, I selfishly never want to have to go through what so many single fathers of the world have to suffer through.

Advocacy for shared parenting – not one custodial and one non-custodial, not one parent and one visitor – deserves all of our voices, so that none of us become victims without it."

[Colin Nelson-Pinkston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super heavy read.

[NK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrors of the modern divorce machinery masterfully exposed.