Desperation: Vicki Gunvalson Drops Lawsuit Against Kelly & Will Be Allowed To Film ‘RHOC’ Reunion
Nov. 5 2019, Updated 5:15 p.m. ET
Vicki Gunvalson dropped her defamation lawsuit against her Real Housewives of Orange County co-star Kelly Dodd and will be allowed to film the reunion show, RadarOnline.com confirmed.
The OG of the OC filed a lawsuit against Kelly, Bravo and NBCUniversal on Nov. 1, demanding that they edit lines her nemesis co-star said about her on RHOC and requesting a temporary restraining order.
She initially dropped Bravo and NBC Universal from the lawsuit and a source told RadarOnline.com exclusively that if she didn’t drop Kelly she would not be allowed to film the RHOC reunion.
Vicki, 57, pulled the plug on the lawsuit against Kelly on Nov. 4, RadarOnline.com confirmed.
A source confirmed to RadarOnline.com that she did withdraw her suit against the network, production company and Kelly.
“She is planning to attend the reunion,” the source said about Vicki, who was demoted from a full time housewife to just a “friend” of the show in a demoralizing blow.
Vicki originally filed the secret court documents under the name Jane Roe in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming “defamation, libel, trade libel, interference with actual and perspective economic business advantage, false light and injunctive relief,” according to documents obtained by RadarOnline.com.
According to court records reviewed by RadarOnline.com, Vicki also requested a temporary restraining order against NBCUniversal and Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
A source connected to the case told RadarOnline.com that Vicki’s restraining order request against NBCUniversal and Metro Goldwyn Mayer was denied.
She tried to hide her identity but according to reports, the documents said Roe was a “TV personality and appears in the series ‘Real Housewives of Orange County,’ which airs on the network Bravo,” according to documents obtained by RadarOnline.com. “Plaintiff is also a retirement planning specialist and the president of an insurance and financial services company,” the documents said - all jobs that seem to point to Vicki.
DAILY. BREAKING. CELEBRITY NEWS. ALL FREE.
The lawsuit requested that three things that Kelly said while they were filming in Key West be edited out of the show.
"You prey on older people,” and "You are a con woman," and she engaged in 'fraud,’” are the three comments Kelly made that Vicki wants out of the show.
“In an email dated October 7, 2019 Plaintiff informed the same executives of Defendants that airing the falsehood uttered by Ms. Dodd would be damaging to her livelihood,” the documents obtained by RadarOnline.com stated.
“She informed them that airing the aforementioned false and defamatory comments will damage her reputation and livelihood and asked that they remove any reference to the lawsuit and anything referencing Plaintiff as “Con Woman” or any other defamatory statements,” the court papers said.
Vicki argued that what airs on the show would be taken as fact.
“Defendants NBC Universal and MGM have been making and broadcasting ‘reality’ television shows such as the Real housewives of Orange County for many years. Defendants promote the reality television shows like the RHOC as the filming of real events in the lives of cast members to draw on viewers who then expect to learn the “truth “about what actually happens in their lives. Viewers watching these reality series are led to believe that information and event in the shows are true and accurate,” her lawsuit claimed.
Vicki asked that those three remarks be edited out of any scenes that will air on the show. The lawsuit stated the network: “will suffer no harm to their popular TV program by removing a fraction of an overall episode."
She asked for the episode to be changed or not aired and asked for damages in the lawsuit.
According to the insider, Vicki, who has been on RHOC since the very first season, would have a difficult time with the lawsuit. “She signed up for the show, she knew what she was getting in to,” the source told RadarOnline.com.