The widely reported million-dollar lawsuit involving Fixer Upper star Chip Gaines was filed in 2017 by two former business partners—not by Joanna Gaines. John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark alleged that Chip bought their stakes in Magnolia Real Estate for $2,500 each without disclosing information about the show’s coming national exposure. The original claims were dismissed in 2020, and a confidential settlement in 2023 ended the remaining claims and appeals. The public reporting does not establish a settlement amount, a verdict against Gaines, or an admission of wrongdoing.
What was the lawsuit about?
Lewis and Clark, former partners in Magnolia Real Estate, sued Chip Gaines in 2017. Their complaint alleged that he bought their interests for $2,500 each shortly before public news of Fixer Upper’s national exposure, without telling them relevant information. They sought more than $1 million in damages and non-monetary relief, according to CBS News’ 2017 report.
That figure was the amount the plaintiffs sought, not an award or a reported settlement amount. The alleged nondisclosure and the fairness of the buyout were claims in a lawsuit, not facts established by a court.
What did each side say?
Contemporaneous reporting identified claims including conspiracy liability, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud by nondisclosure, and statutory fraud. Gaines’s attorney, Jordan Mayfield, characterized the claims as meritless in a statement reported by CBS News. Those were the plaintiffs’ allegations and the defense’s response; neither should be mistaken for a court finding.
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How did the case end?
The original claims were dismissed
The claims brought by Lewis and Clark were dismissed in February 2020. Gaines’s defamation countersuit against the former partners remained active after that dismissal, according to KWTX’s 2023 account.
The remaining dispute settled in 2023
In July 2023, the parties reached a confidential settlement that dismissed all claims and appeals, including any potential appeal of the earlier dismissal. John Mabry, the attorney for Lewis and Clark, told KWTX: “I am not at liberty to discuss the terms of the settlement due to a confidentiality agreement signed by the parties.” The terms are therefore not public in that reporting; it does not establish that Gaines paid a particular amount, admitted wrongdoing, or was found liable.
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Was Joanna Gaines a defendant?
Joanna Gaines was not identified as a defendant in the 2017 former-partners lawsuit. The headline’s reference to “Chip and Joanna” can therefore blur two separate cases.
A different lawsuit, filed in 2022 by a literary agent, named both Gaineses, their companies, and United Talent Agency. It concerned alleged unpaid commissions connected to amendments to a HarperCollins publishing agreement, including changes to the number of books and authorship. In June 2024, a New York court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss that complaint in its entirety. It was a separate dispute, not another phase of Lewis and Clark’s case; see the New York court opinion.
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What is established—and what is not
- Established in the cited reporting: Lewis and Clark filed the 2017 suit against Chip Gaines and sought more than $1 million.
- Alleged, not proven: They claimed Gaines bought their stakes for $2,500 each without disclosing relevant information about the show’s national exposure.
- Case outcome: The original claims were dismissed in 2020; the parties later settled the remaining claims and appeals confidentially in 2023.
- Not established in the public reporting cited here: A settlement amount, a verdict against Gaines, or an admission of wrongdoing.
- Separate case: The literary-agent lawsuit naming both Gaineses was dismissed in its entirety by a New York court in 2024.
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