Another HGTV Scandal: ‘Fixer Upper’ Star Sued by Former Business Partners
HGTV has had a string of bad luck with controversies and lawsuits, and it looks like one of its stars is heading to court. Chip Gaines, who hosts Fixer Upper with his wife, Joanna, is being sued by his former business partners for allegedly buying out their shares just two days before HGTV picked up the show.
As the lawsuit states, “at a time when only the Defendants knew that Fixer Upper had been fast-tracked for a one-hour premiere on HGTV and was on the verge of radically changing their lives and business enterprises, Chip Gaines conspired to eliminate his business partners — notwithstanding their longstanding friendship — in order to ensure that he alone would profit from Magnolia Realty’s association with Fixer Upper.” John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark say Gaines bought their shares of Magnolia Realty for $2,500 each and seek $1 million in damages and non-monetary relief.
At the end of 2016, the Gaines family came under fire for their association with Antioch Community Church. Their pastor, Jimmy Seibert, opposes homosexuality and gay marriage and promotes conversion therapy, which the scientific and psychiatric communities have described as “unnecessary, ineffective, and dangerous.”
Around the same time, Fixer Upper was also criticized by former participants for faking certain aspects of the show, including the home-buying process, which is allegedly falsely dramatized to seem as if the guests have not already purchased a new home.
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Read more from Yahoo TV:
‘Fixer Upper’: Is This The Best Home Show, And The Best Marriage, On TV?
HGTV Home Renovation Series ‘Flip or Flop’ Gets Five Spinoffs
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