"Girls Gone Wild" Creator Joe Francis Alleges His Ex Abbey Wilson Has Kidnapped Their 7-Year-Old Daughters

Wilson's lawyer has denied Francis' claims that the model was charged with kidnapping.

BYHayley Hynes
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Joe Francis, the founder of Girls Gone Wild, is in the middle of some pretty serious baby mama drama, TMZ reports. An anonymous source told the outlet that the 48-year-old's ex, a model named Abbey Wilson, has been charged with the kidnapping of their twin 7-year-old daughters, Athena and Alexandria. 

Francis alleges that he was supposed to see the girls on Christmas, but that plans fell through as Wilson and their children have seemingly "fallen off the grid." Court documents obtained by TMZ accuse the 33-year-old of family violence, noting that "authorities have tried to serve her with papers," but haven't been able to as she hasn't been living at her listed residence for at least six months.

A post shared by Abbey Wilson (@iamabbeywilson)

On Wednesday, Wilson's lawyer, Ronald Richards provided a lengthy statement to Page Six, explaining his client's whereabouts. "The Mexican court has her address," he said, adding that Francis has been "physically and verbally abusive" to the mother of his children for "many years."

"She categorically denies she has been charged with kidnapping. She has full temporary custody of her children. He only has limited supervised visitation. She has retained counsel and any court papers, like in the US, are served on counsel of record. There is no amber alert or any other bulletin looking for her."

Richards mentioned that Wilson's baby daddy has failed to provide any sort of financial support for "school, education, medical bills, food, etc," and also brought up the time which the businessman "brutally attacked and beat Abbey up," which the model had previously alleged in court documents. 

"He is angry and trying to make her look bad because he is angry he went to jail last year," Richards speculated. "That is it. He is a violent human being and his track record proves that. He has a history of submitting false stories about our client. He should surrender to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fugitive detail who has been looking to execute those outstanding bench warrants for over five years."


Page Six notes that Francis and Wilson first met in 2012 when the latter won Girls Gone Wild's "Search for the Hottest Girl in America". They were never married but stayed together for nearly 12 years until the pandemic hit when Wilson shared stories about her ex's drug use and abusive behaviour while they were at home together.

At the time, the father of two told the outlet, "My ex-girlfriend just keeps making up things and lying and lying and lying. I have to defend myself and publicly separate myself with her now."

Despite Francis' claims that his ex and their children are "off the grid," she shared a photo of them on the beach just a few days ago. Check it out below. 


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About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.