Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines have been sued multiple times, and at least one of their lawsuits appears to be ongoing. Here’s why the Fixer Upper stars have been sued in the past and what we know about their most recent legal case.
Chip and Joanna Gaines’ neighbor at Magnolia Market sued the ‘Fixer Upper’ stars
In 2016, Chip and Joanna Gaines’ neighbor at the Magnolia Market sued the Fixer Upper stars for $1 million over the property surrounding the market in Waco, Texas (per Country Living).
The HGTV stars did not own the alley next to Magnolia Market, but the Gainses had a lease agreement with the previous owner allowing customers to park there for free.
When Daron Farmer purchased the land including the alley, the new owner wanted to charge market visitors $10 for parking. Chip installed a metal gate after Farmer and the Gainses failed to reach a compromise over the alley. Farmer claimed the gate partially restricted access to his land and illegally obstructed his private property.
Chip and Joanna’s lawyer said the Fixer Upper stars erected the gate to protect their business. The couple didn’t want Magnolia Market customers to be charged a parking fee. Farmer sued for between $200,000 and $1 million in damages and demanded the gate’s removal.
In 2017, the lawsuit was dismissed after Chip and Joanna bought the property next to Magnolia Market from Farmer.
“I’m glad that Chip and I were able to resolve the case peacefully and remove it from the court system,” said Farmer (per KBTX). “Chip and I today are in good standing.”
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2 of Chip Gaines’ former business partners sued him
In 2017, two of Chip Gaines’ former business partners, Richard L. Clark and John L. Lewis, filed a lawsuit against the Fixer Upper star.
Lewis and Clark said Chip persuaded them to sell their one-third ownership stakes in Magnolia Realty for $2,500 apiece in May 2013. They said Chip withheld the information that those stakes’ value was about to increase dramatically, thanks to the HGTV show. Clark and Lewis sued for over $1 million and their ownership stakes back, or compensation for what their Magnolia Realty stakes would be worth had they known about Fixer Upper’s success.
The lawsuit carried on for nearly three years. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in February 2020 and sealed the case records, including Chip’s deposition, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald (per Insider).
The ‘Fixer Upper’ stars’ literary agent filed a lawsuit over a book deal
Chip and Joanna Gaines are currently facing another lawsuit over a book deal. In December 2022, the Fixer Upper stars’ literary agent sued them for breach of contract.
Agent David Vigliano claimed the couple changed the terms of a five-book publishing deal with a $12.5 million advance without his consent (per The Wall Street Journal). The contract alterations reduced the total number of books from five to four and took away the option of a sixth book.
The changes allegedly deprived Vigliano Associates of other earnings and fees from the original deal. The court documents also claim that Joanna made a deal with another literary agent, and the money from her book The Stories We Tell should have gone to Vigliano Associates. Vigliano demanded $1 million in damages.
There has yet to be an official update saying the case has been resolved or dismissed, so it appears to be ongoing.
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