‘RHOSLC’ Star Heather Gay Settles $450k Federal Court Battle Over Beauty Lab After Ex-Costar Monica Garcia’s ‘Botched’ Lawsuit Ends
Feb. 13 2024, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay and her med spa hashed out a confidential settlement to end a federal lawsuit.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the Bravo star and photographer Gavin O’Neill informed the court of their recent agreement.
Gay denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Per their deal, all claims will be dismissed against Gay and her company.
As we first reported, last year, O’Neill sued Gay and her Utah-based company, Beauty Lab + Laser. The suit accused the defendants of copyright infringement.
O’Neill, who has worked with everyone from Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and GQ, said he makes his income by licensing his photos to third parties.
The photographer demanded $450k in damages.
He accused Gay of using photos he took of models in advertisements for Beauty Lab.
O’Neill claimed one of his images was even used to show the potential results “of what can be achieved with Beauty Lab’s HydraFacial services, and urged its users to book an appointment online.”
The suit accused Gay and her company of using multiple photos taken by O’Neill without his permission.
“O’Neill is informed and believes Defendants (including their employees, agents, contractors or others over whom they have responsibility and control) used, displayed, published, and otherwise held out to the public O’Neill’s original and unique Photographs in order to acquire a direct financial benefit from the use of the Photographs through revenue from the sales of Beauty Lab’s products and services,” he said.
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O’Neill said he tried to settle the dispute with Gay before he sued but she refused. His lawsuit demanded damages in excess of $450k.
In response, Gay and her company denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The reality star argued O’Neill had not been damaged by her actions.
Monica will not be returning for another season.
“Defendant’s infringement was not willful. Defendant removed the allegedly infringing photographs immediately upon receiving notice,” her filing read.
O’Neill and Gay worked out a deal to dismiss the suit.
The news comes as the lawsuit filed against Gay by her co-star Monica Garcia was dismissed.
In a lawsuit, first reported by The Sun, Garcia accused Gay’s med spa of giving her “botched” nose and lip injections.
Garcia filed the suit after Gay sued for allegedly failing to pay thousands for work provided. Last month, the judge dismissed the case claiming it was brought past the statute of limitations.