The woman who served as a surrogate for Jeff Lewis and his partner, Gage Edward, filed a lawsuit against Bravo on Tuesday, June 12, claiming she never consented to having the birth of the couple’s daughter, Monroe, filmed for their show Flipping Out.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Alexandra Trent was “horrified” when she saw her “naked legs and blurred-out vagina” in the delivery room in an episode that aired in August 2017. She further claims that she was humiliated by Lewis, 48, and Edward, both of whom she is also suing.
In the broadcast, Lewis said, “If I was a surrogate and I had known that there was going to be an audience, I probably would have waxed. … I don’t think Gage had ever seen a vagina, let alone one that big.”
Trent says in the lawsuit that she was unaware she would be on a reality series when she first met Lewis and Edward in 2015. She claims she was assured by the couple, Bravo and the production company Authentic Entertainment that she “would not be a show subject,” so she agreed to be their surrogate.
Trent alleges that she was later asked to have certain medical procedures, including ultrasounds, filmed during her pregnancy. She says she expressed reservations and “made it explicitly clear … that she did not want her reproductive organs filmed or broadcast, and/or did not want the birth filmed and/or broadcast.” She claims that Lewis, Edward and producers told her that they would not record footage of the birth, but then “surreptitiously filmed it from behind a curtain” without her knowledge.
The suit claims that Trent was left “deeply damaged” when she watched the episode and experienced “anguish, self-loathing, contempt and depression” as a result. She also alleges that Bravo refused to take down the clip from its website despite her request. She is seeking damages for unlawful recording, invasion of privacy and fraud.
Flipping Out premiered on Bravo in July 2007. It was recently renewed for an 11th season.
Us has reached out to Bravo for comment.
