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‘Gossip Girl’ star Kelly Rutherford forced to return both children to father overseas

WATCH ABOVE: Rutherford leaves a Manhattan courtroom.

TORONTO – A Manhattan Supreme Court Judge forced Gossip Girl star Kelly Rutherford to say farewell Tuesday to her two children as they return to their father in Monaco.

Rutherford and her ex-husband, Daniel Giersch, have been in a bitter custody battle that only got worse when Rutherford allegedly refused to return the children to their father on Friday after a summer visit with Mom in New York.

She eventually released a statement over the weekend: “I have decided that I cannot lawfully send my children away from the United States to live in a foreign country.”

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On Saturday, Rutherford retweeted Will & Grace and The Mysteries of Laura star Debra Messing’s ‘1000 per cent’ support.

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But Tuesday’s court appearance didn’t start out well for Rutherford. She immediately violated a judge’s order by not bringing her children, 6-year-old Helena and 8-year-old Hermes, to court.

Renita Giersch, Daniel’s mother and grandmother to the children, was present but forced to wait outside Judge Ellen Gesmer’s courtroom.

ABC reports that the children were eventually brought to court after the judge’s ruling sided with the father. A happy reunion with their grandmother was overheard.

“She has also been offered the opportunity to bring them to school, when the children start school,” attorney Robert Michaels said, according to US Weekly. “Basically nothing has changed from the original order; the children will reside mainly with Mr. Giersch in Monaco, [and] she is free to visit anytime she wants and other specified times stated in the agreement.”

Rutherford wore sunglasses as she quickly exited the building. She and Giersch divorced six years ago and shared custody of Helena and Hermes. However, Giersch’s VISA was later revoked and, in 2012, a California judge decided the children should live with their father.

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