'Fixer Upper' FIBS! Attorney For Chip Gaines' Ex-Friend Explains Why He SUED
May 4 2017, Published 9:54 a.m. ET
Chip Gaines lied to Fixer Upper fans, an attorney for the men suing the HGTV star told RadarOnline.com exclusively.
John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark just filed a million-dollar lawsuit against Gaines, and their lawyer David G. Tekell told RadarOnline.com exclusively that “they tried contacting him” a year ago, but he never responded — despite a Tweet from Gaines claiming the opposite.
RadarOnline.com reported that Chip, 42, claimed his “friends” didn’t reach out to him until they filed a suit in late April for defrauding them out of their joint company.
“They did contact him,” Tekell said of the 2016 exchange between his clients and the reality star. “Chip turned it over to his lawyer and the discussions that ensued were between lawyers.”
As for why the former friends finally pulled the trigger on their lawsuit, the attorney said, "The filing occurred on the four year anniversary" of the incident of alleged fraud.
“There is a four year statue of limitations in Texas that governs these complaints … the case had to be filed or it was lost.”
“We’ve tried to resolve it quickly,” Tekell claimed. “We tried to resolve it. We’ve been doing it for a while."
But, he said, "You have to have both sides together to make a settlement. They do not appear to want to come to the table to settle, so we will do the lawsuit thing, which is to file it, set it to trial, take it to the court, and let the court decide.”
Now, the case is at a standstill until Chip, Joanna, and HGTV file their response in court.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Lewis and Clark claimed that Joanna, 39, and Chip kept their HGTV deal a secret when they allegedly forced their friends to sell their shares in Magnolia Realty for just $2,500 each. The plaintiffs claimed in court documents filed in McLennan County, Texas that they would not have agreed to the sale if they had known that the Fixer Upper deal was about to come through.
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The Gaineses are also being sued over a fan’s injury at the Magnolia Silos and for putting up a fence on the property.
Stay with RadarOnline.com for more.
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