Chip Gaines took to Twitter on Saturday, April 29, to respond to the lawsuit his former partners filed over his successful Magnolia Real Estate Company.
“Fyi: Ive had the same cell # 15 years.. same email for 20 yrs,” the Fixer Upper star, 42, wrote. “No one called or emailed? 4 years later ‘friends’ reach out via lawsuit.. humm.”
Fyi: Ive had the same cell # 15 yrs.. same email for 20 yrs. No one called or emailed? 4 years later "friends" reach out via lawsuit.. humm
— Chip Gaines (@chippergaines) April 29, 2017
Gaines’ tweet came just days after Magnolia cofounders John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark filed a $1 million lawsuit against him, claiming that he had bought them out of the company two days before his HGTV series premiered in May 2013 and paid them $2,500 each for their shares.
Lewis and Clark claim in the lawsuit that Gaines — who now runs Magnolia with his wife and Fixer Upper costar, Joanna Gaines — didn’t notify them that HGTV had plans to broadcast the reality show nationally and that “the show prominently featured the ‘Magnolia’ brand name” before the sale.
Lewis and Clark founded the company with Chip in 2007 with just one real estate agent. Magnolia has since employed more than 93 agents and operates in several major cities in Texas, according to the suit.
In a statement to Us Weekly, Chip’s attorney, Jordan Mayfield, denied the allegations, saying, “We are confident that these claims will be found to be meritless, and it is disappointing to see people try to take advantage of the hard work and success of Chip and Joanna Gaines.”