Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Jeff Lewis‘s surrogate has dropped her lawsuit against theFlipping Outstar and his ex-partner, Gage Edward.
She filed with prejudice, which means she cannot refile in the future. The dismissal gets Bravo andFlipping Out‘s production company, Authentic Entertainment, who were named in the suit, off the hook as well.
A source close to Jeff tells PEOPLE, “Jeff’s relieved to have this past him. It caused a lot of stress and turmoil in his life, and he’s glad this is finally over.”
Edward, Lewis, Bravo, Authentic Entertainment and reps for Trent did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Trentinitially filed the claimsin June 2018, seeking damages for unlawful recording, invasion of privacy and fraud. She claimed thatFlipping Outfilmed her delivery without permission, and accused Lewis and Edward of making“disgusting” remarksabout her.
Lewis joked, “If I was a surrogate, and I had known there was going to be an audience, I probably would have waxed. And that was the shocking part for Gage. I don’t think Gage had ever seen a vagina, let alone one that big.”
Jeff Lewis/Instagram
The comment — and the fact that producers had filmed her delivery — “deeply damaged Trent” and “caused incredible anguish, self-loathing, contempt and depression,” according to the legal documents.
While Lewis told PEOPLE he didn’t remember making the comment, he recognized it as “a poor attempt at humor” and “an off-color joke” once he saw the episode.
After the episode and before the suit was filed, Lewis claimed he had sent Trent flowers and an apology letter after learning she had reached out to his surrogacy attorney to say she was upset with what had been said.
When the suit was filed in June, Lewis claimed he was “blindsided” and called the suit a “financial shakedown.”
In October, Dr. Lindsey Cafferata, who performed the delivery,filed a claim in supportof Trent, saying that she “heard Ms. Trent inform the show producers that she did not want to be filmed while she gave birth as she did not want her reproductive organs displayed on television.”
The OB-GYN recalled that producers told her “that there would be no filming during the birth” but that Lewis and Edward said they wanted the video for “home use.”
That same month, ajudge ruledthat the legal battle would not be settled in private arbitration and would likely go to trial after Lewis alleged that a contract Trent signed mandated that any issues that arose from the filming would be settled in private arbitration — not a public court.
Lewis had previously tried to get the lawsuit thrown out.
At the time, Lewistold PEOPLE, “There will be consequences to these actions, and I look forward to my day in court.”
The news that the suit has been dropped comes on the heels of a tumultuous year in Lewis’s personal life. He and Edwardsplit in Januaryafter dating for nearly 10 years, and he says they have been navigating how toamicably co-parent Monroe. Lewis has also expressed his desire tohave another child“with or without” Edward.
In June, his personal and professional relationship with his friend of nearly 20 years andFlipping Outcostar, Jenni Pulos,ended after she allegedly accused him of “abuse and victimization.” Pulosadamantly deniedthat claim in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in November.
Pulos is Monroe’s godmother, and Lewis has suggested their riftmay lead to the end of their Bravo seriesafter 11 seasons.
source: people.com
