In my house the Chip & Joanna show is the top of the lot on HGTV. So I’m deeply saddened to hear Chip Gaines’ two former partners in Magnolia Realty claim in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he
defrauded them by withholding information when he bought them out for $2,500 each just days before HGTV announced it was picking up the Fixer Upper show.
Waco attorneys John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark are seeking more than $1 million in a lawsuit filed in state district court in Waco. The lawsuit was first reported by the Waco Tribune.
Lewis and Clark said in the lawsuit that if they had been privy to Gaines’ ongoing discussions with the television network, and knew what they said Chip knew about the prospects for Magnolia Realty, they would never have sold their two-thirds share for a combined $5,000.
“Without a doubt, Chip has profited from his silence and subsequent acquisition of all membership interests in Magnolia Realty,” said the complaint.
Magnolia is the brand that the company has used on its other growing businesses including the retail development in downtown Waco, Magnolia Market at the Silos, and on Magnolia Home furniture, rugs, throws, pillows and paint by Joanna Gaines. Last year, an attempt to name a new bakery with the Magnolia brand was stopped. There’s already a Magnolia Bakery chain of nine stores based in New York. The Waco bakery was instead named Silos Baking Co.