Law & Disorder: Terrence Howard's Wife Secures Restraining Order Against Him

Actor counterfiles, denies claims he hit his estranged missus, Michelle Ghent

By Natalie Finn Dec 07, 2011 2:25 AMTags
Terrence Howard, Michelle GhentMichael Buckner/Getty Images for Bin

Where's the dramatic chung-chung sound when you need one?

Terrence Howard's estranged wife, Michelle Ghent, secured a temporary restraining order against the former Law & Order: Los Angeles star this morning, claiming he consistently abused her throughout their short marriage and threatened to kill her.

In turn, Howard counterfiled paperwork denying her allegations and accusing Ghent of threatening to go public with "private materials" unless he paid her money.

Ghent filed for divorce in February, seven days after their first wedding anniversary. It was the third marriage for Howard, who married the mother of his three children twice.

Howard is not allowed to contact or go within 100 yards of Ghent until their next court hearing on Jan. 17.

In her filing, Ghent alleges that, on separate occasions, Howard hit her in the face and chipped her tooth with his wedding ring, threatened to throw her off a balcony, and menaced her with comments such as, "If you tell anyone about my personal business, I will kill you and no one will ever know."

A rep for Howard did not immediately return requests for comment.

His rebuttal filing states that he has done his best not to contact her since she filed for divorce and expresses concern that his reputation will be damaged by her allegations.