"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Melissa Gorga and host Andy Cohen are facing a $30 million lawsuit from the initial's former business partner named Jackie Beard Robinson. The plaintiff claims that the two destroyed her reputation and defamed her in the Bravo reality series and on his talk show.
Robinson sued Gorga, Cohen, NBC Universal, and a series of producers at Sirens Media for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, People reports. The tension between the former business partners intensified when their issue was discussed in an episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" and on "Watch What Happens Live."
Robinson and Gorga were former business partners of a New Jersey clothing store called Envy by Melissa Gorga. The complainant revealed that she was the one to break off their partnership because the 38-year-old star allegedly "misappropriated over $37,000" from their boutique.
In the court document, Robinson claims that her business with Gorga was used as a storyline in an episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" in October. In the scene, the reality star said that she has sneaked into the store "in the middle of the night and took all the clothes."
On Jan. 1, Robinson claimed that her affiliation Gorga was already over, thus she returned to the store to get the products that belonged to her. In another episode of "Watch What Happens Live" in the same month, the author also talked about Robinson's alleged "stealing" from their store.
When Cohen asked Gorga if Robinson "kind of ripping" her off, she said "yes" without a doubt. Hence, Robinson found that these accusations against her are making her look like a criminal.
With that, she revealed that it has put a negative impact on her business, as well as on her personal life. "When you accuse someone of stealing, that's the worst kind of defamation and it's very serious," Robinson's lawyer Larry Klayman said. Bravo, on the other hand, said that the lawsuit has "no merit."
"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" season 8 airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.
