HGTVChip Gaines has found himself in some legal trouble.
E! News can confirm the Fixer Upper star is being sued by his former Magnolia Real Estate partners for more than $1 million.
John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark filed the documents in Waco, Texas, on Wednesday, claiming Gaines urged them to sell their share of the company two days before HGTV picked up Fixer Upper, which prominently features the Magnolia Real Estate Name.
The partners say Gaines bought out their shares for $2,500 each in May 2013 and claim he threatened to open up a competing realty company if they didn't sell their shares. The documents also included a threatening text message that Gaines allegedly sent to Lewis in which he threatened to physically assault Clark.
Throughout all of this, Lewis and Clark say Gaines had been secretly working with HGTV. Thus, they are suing him for over a million dollars in damages and non-monetary relief for fraud by nondisclosure, statutory fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
"In summary, at a time when only the Defendants knew that Fixer Upper had been fast-tracked for a one-hour premier on HGTV and was on the verge of radically changing their lives and business enterprises, Chip Gaines conspired to eliminate his business partners—notwithstanding their longstanding friendship—in order to ensure that he alone would profit from Magnolia Realty's association with Fixer Upper," the lawsuit stated.
Gaines' Lawyer released the following statement to E! News in response to the lawsuit: "We are confident that these claims will be found to be meritless, and it is disappointing to see people try to take advantage of the hard work and success of Chip and Joanna Gaines."