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General Hospital star Steve Burton accused ex-wife Sheree Gustin of “manipulation” in new court documents obtained by Us Weekly.
Burton, 55, submitted alleged texts from Gustin and asked the court to assist in getting her to follow their custody agreement, which was finalized in December 2023 and amended this past January. Burton alleged that Gustin “has systematically refused to honor” their agreement, which allowed him “regular summer custodial time and two separate weeks of annual vacation” with their minor daughter, Brooklyn, 11. (The former couple, who were married from 1999 to 2023, also share daughter Makena, 22, and son Jack, 20.)
TMZ was first to report news on their text exchange.
“This is manipulation. You signed an order. So the response should have been hey brook your dad has you a lot in the summer .. but I know your priority is not having her spend time with us,” Burton wrote in a text to Gustin on March 14, 2026. “Activities do not Trump time with family .. again this is something that you signed and you decided to neglect that and now put it on brook .. and now you get to say dad won’t let you .. when you should have said it’s not gonna work. So now you’ll be able to say you made a mistake and we should schedule my weeks.”
She denied being manipulative in her response hours later, writing back in part, “No it’s not. I told you she wanted to do jr. guards. You knew this.”
Burton alleged in the court docs that Gustin has engaged in “deliberate obstruction” of his parenting time with Brooklyn. He claimed she was enrolled in a six-week junior lifeguard program that interferes with Burton’s previously established time with Brooklyn. (Burton is also asking the court to order Gustin to pay nearly $5,000 to his attorney.)
Burton alleged that Gustin “flatly declared” she will not allow Brooklyn to use their two-week vacation time outside of California. The soap star also included text messages between himself and Gustin to prove his point.
“The problem is if she makes it that’s our week to take her to Tennessee, which you knew,” Burton alleged in a text to Gustin, obtained by Us. “So why would you push to join when it takes up the whole summer when I have weeks in July also.”
Burton included a list of dates, which seemingly reveal the junior lifeguard program takes place for seven weeks from mid-June through July.
In her text response, Gustin claimed that Burton knew Brooklyn wanted to join junior lifeguards and noted that he was the one who “decided to move.” (Burton discussed his plans to relocate to Tennessee in a September 2025 email, citing the “high cost” of living in California, per the court docs.)
“Her life is here. She’s going to be more involved in things. You’re welcome to be here and be a part of it. I told you I’m willing to work with you but she shouldn’t be limited to activities she wants to do because you insist on her being in Tennessee,” Gustin’s text read. “That’s not right or fair to her. Please just enjoy your weekend with your daughter. I’m done talking about this.”
Burton also accused Gustin of having bad intentions in his response.
“You signed an order two months ago and now you’re going against it. and then you try to put it on me and Brooklyn,” he wrote. “We will not be in California. And please stop telling Brooklyn her life is here. It’s gonna be in both places .. and you can choose to be supportive for Brooklyn.”
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