Robin Thicke & Paula Patton go to war over spanking drama

Singer Robin Thicke and his ex-wife have gone back to court for a bitter new custody battle over their six-year-old son.

Actress Paula Patton started 2017 off by denying the Blurred Lines hitmaker access to young Julian after the kid revealed his dad had spanked him.

He also told teachers at his school, who reported the incident to officials at the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, who opened an investigation.

Paula also filed an emergency order urging lawmakers to restrict Robin's contact with Julian to monitored daytime visits only, according to TMZ.

In legal documents, Paula told Robin, "Julian is scared of you."

Thicke responded by confessing to spanking his son, stating: "On a very rare occasion and only as a last resort, I will use light spanking, but it is consistent with the law - open hand on the butt. This is the type of discipline to which Paula and I agreed during our marriage."

The singer has also been hit with a declaration from a nanny who claims she has seen Robin smoke marijuana in front of his son, and Paula alleges her ex showed up drunk at Julian's kindergarten graduation last June (16).

Thicke insists the whole custody drama is payback for blocking Paula from attending his late father Alan Thicke's funeral last month (Dec16).

In his documents, obtained by TMZ, he writes: "Paula did not have a positive relationship with my father and often made negative comments to me about my father. As such, she was not welcome at his funeral."

Reports suggest both parties met for a hearing on Thursday (12Jan17), when a family court judge denied Paula's request to limit Robin's joint custody and also a request for drug testing.

The DCFS' investigations are ongoing.