Chip And Joanna Gaines Sued For $1M By Former Literary Agent, Says He Didn’t Get His Promised Cut
Chip and Joanna Gaines, who starred in the HGTV reality series “Fixer Upper,” are being sued by their former literary agent for what he’s describing as a breach of contract.
Joanna had previously agreed to write five books with HarperCollins as part of a $12.5 million deal, per TMZ. The arrangement was brokered by the boutique literary agency Vigliano Associates.
Now their former agent, David Vigliano, is suing the couple for at least $1 million in damages for allegedly not holding up their end of the bargain.
After writing the first two books, Vigliano claims that the Gaineses altered the original contract by reducing the number of books Joanna would write down to four. He also accused the couple of failing to pay the agreed-upon fees and earnings from the original agreement.
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Vigliano said the pair also eliminated the possibility of a sixth book and tried to swap out Chip as the author of one book when Joanna was supposed to write them all.
The lawsuit states that Vigliano Associates is entitled to 7.5% of total advances, bonuses, and royalties Joanna earns from the books per the original agreement.
Meanwhile, Joanna just released the memoir “The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters” with another agent. Vigliano is asserting that his company is owed a portion of those sales.
“Joanna and Chip Gaines brand themselves as moral Christians who purportedly operate in an ethical manner … nothing could be further from the truth,” legal documents obtained by TMZ said.
The former HGTV star and creator of Magnolia Network has been busy promoting her new book, which Joanna said was “written for my six-year-old self, who walked into rooms and knew that she mattered.”
“There is something that resonates with me about going back,” the mom of five told Woman’s Day about her inspiration for the memoir.
“There is magic to going back. … How do I recapture some of that? The older I get, I want these things to matter. These grounding moments, places where I feel safe. For the longest time, I let fear lead my decision-making. Now I’m constantly rewriting these thoughts, so that I’m walking in who I am.”
“When you let go, you have the capacity to hold more of what matters,” Joanna continued. “I want to continue to evolve and surprise myself. I don’t want to be put in a box. I want to continue to grow and learn and be surprised by life.”
“The Stories We Tell” quickly became a top seller, joining Joanna’s six other books, including two cookbooks and two children’s books.
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