“Ugly Betty” star Ashley Jensen and her husband, Terrence Beesley, filed a lawsuit against Bravo’s “Flipping Out” stars Jeff Lewis and his associate Ryan Brown on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court papers acquired by Access Hollywood.
The lawsuit includes a complaint against alleged trespass and encroachment as well as assault, and asks for a temporary restraining order and permanent injunctions with regard to both complaints.
The suit alleges that Lewis and his company, Vicious Investments, Inc., were making improvements to a neighboring property “without obtaining the required building permits,” leaving a deck encroaching onto the couple’s property.
Lewis allegedly asked for an easement — the right to leave the encroachment — first for free, and then offering $10,000. In response, the couple claim they asked for $100,000 for the easement on December 5. That night, an allegedly “irate” Lewis entered Jensen’s property and threatened the couple, the papers claim, asking for an easement for $30,000.
According to the papers, Lewis threatened to reveal private information about the couple on “Flipping Out” and would “cast [them] in a negative light.” He allegedly stated he would move into the property to make the couple’s lives “miserable” — “Your wife won’t like this,” he allegedly told Beesley.
Lewis responded to the claims in a statement to Access on Friday.
“Actress Ashley Jensen (Ugly Betty) and her husband Terry Beesley and I have a simple encroachment dispute that should have been resolved informally,” Jeff said in the statement. “Having apparently watched my reality show, they now feel they can exploit my personality to increase their media exposure and their alleged damages.
“I have never threatened either of them with physical harm, nor was I abusive or verbally threatening to either of them,” he added. “In fact I have never even met Ms. Jensen. The court will decide how much the easement is worth and Ms. Jensen and Mr. Beesley will then be left having to earn media coverage on their talent alone.”
A rep for Jensen told Access, “No comment,” regarding Jeff’s statement.