Jeff Lewis Says Ex Gage Edward 'Locked Himself' In His Guest Room During Child Custody Argument
Jeff Lewis has alleged that his ex Gage Edward locked himself in the guest room of the home they once shared during a disagreement that led to them both hiring lawyers in a custody battle over their daughter Monroe.
On Tuesday’s episode of his SiriusXM radio show Jeff Lewis Live!, the Flipping Out star revealed that he and Edward, who split five months ago, had been amicably co-parenting two-year-old Monroe. Lewis claimed that Edward had open access to his home, and he was able to see their daughter whenever he wanted to.
“He was coming in the home once or twice a day,” Lewis said. “Until recently, when something happened last week where it made me very nervous and scared.”
“We had a disagreement. It was over email,” Lewis continued. “When I came in in the morning he had locked himself in my guest room and he said that he wasn’t going to come out until I left. That made me feel very unsafe in my own home.”
When his co-host Meghan Weaver said “That seems a little unstable,” Lewis responded by saying, “Actually a couple people have implied that. I’m not going to say that.”
Edward had no comment on the situation.
RELATED: Jeff Lewis Says He and Ex Gage Edward Hired Lawyers in ‘Ugly’ Custody Battle Over Daughter Monroe
After the alleged incident, Lewis said he approached Edward and told him he shouldn’t be coming to the house for visitation with Monroe anymore, but claimed he wasn’t attempting to limit his access to their daughter, who they welcomed via surrogate in October 2016.
“I will allow you complete access to Monroe, but I think you should just do visitation outside the house,” Lewis recalled saying to Edward.
That’s when, Lewis alleges, he received a “nasty” letter from Edward’s attorney asking for 50/50 custody of Monroe that would allow Edward to see her three-and-a-half days per week.
Lewis first mentioned the letter on his radio show on June 13, when he said “I received a very nasty, nasty letter with a slew of mischaracterizations, mistruths, accusations and demands.”
“Unfortunately, during breakups you see people for who they really are,” he continued. “The problem is, when you hurt each other this way, it’s very hard to get through it. Sometimes people do such terrible things and say such terrible things.” He also alleged that the “events of the last five months” laid out by Edward’s attorney were “drastically different than what happened.”
Even after Edward hired a lawyer, Lewis claimed that the pair were able to have a positive moment together with Monroe on Father’s Day, when she was sick. Lewis said that Edward took Monroe out to dinner, and she came back with an upset stomach.
“She had diarrhea in the car and she was crying and it hurt and he was holding her,” Lewis said on Tuesday. “She just didn’t want to let go of him. And I said ‘Just come in the house.’”
Lewis says that together, they changed Monroe’s diaper and Edward ordered Pedialyte. He also said they were texting each other all night about the incident.
“It was such a great experience for us coming together,” Lewis said. “I woke up in the morning and at 6:58 I texted him: ‘Good morning. The baby woke up briefly at 5:30-6 but she is now back to sleep. Thank you for coming in last night. I know you and Monroe miss the morning and evening routine. You are welcome to come back in the house moving forward. You scared me when you locked yourself in the house and I felt very uncomfortable and unsafe. I didn’t realize what was happening. I reacted badly and I’m sorry.’”
After that incident, Lewis claimed that he thought he and Edward might be able to have a civil meeting with their attorneys to discuss custody and visitation, but instead, Lewis said Edward “came in hot and it was really ugly.”
Lewis also alleges that during the meeting, the attorneys had to separate he and Gage.
“He couldn’t keep it together,” Lewis says of Edward. “He was so angry and irrational that they had to move him to another conference room.”
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On Tuesday, Lewis voiced his concerns with Edward’s request for equal time with Monroe, and said that he wasn’t trying to diminish Edward’s rights to see her, but instead wanted to make sure their daughter was comfortable with the transition.
“I don’t dispute his rights as her parent,” he said. “What I dispute is how we do it. She’s two and a half years old. This is her home. Ease her into it.”
However, Lewis also expressed his concerns with Edward’s new apartment in West Hollywood, which he moved into following their break up after moving out of the Sherman Oaks home he shared with Lewis.
The Bravo star complained that Edward’s apartment might be unfit for Monroe because there is no fencing around the pool and “not a blade of grass.”
“I bought a f—g house in Sherman Oaks and built it for my kid,” Lewis continued. “Everything is for the kid.”
On Thursday, he doubled down on those claims, claiming that Edward’s attorney sent over photos of the apartment.
“It looks like a prison,” Lewis said. “It is so depressing and it looks like a hospital room. Talk about minimal effort.”
Lewis did say the home is outfitted with a crib, a rug and a dresser, but complained that “there is no color on the walls, there is no art, there’s no toys. There’s no park. There’s a lot of asphalt.”
“Her room is so colorful and lively [at my house],” Lewis continued. “She has this most beautiful wallpaper with all these colorful birds.”
During Thursday’s segment, Lewis told his radio listeners that they had come to an agreement for visitation this week which involved Edward taking Monroe from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., but not spending the night at his apartment.
“We agreed, reluctantly, to all day today and all day tomorrow,” Lewis said. “The good news it that we agreed to visitation this week. The bad news is that it cost us $10,000.”
Lewis previously revealed that he thought Edward might have a “financial motive” for hiring an attorney, and said on his show that he has questioned if Edward was “struggling” while opening his new design business after leaving Jeff Lewis Design.
RELATED: Gage Edward Reflects on Year of ‘Highs’ and ‘Lows’ on 35th Birthday After Split from Jeff Lewis
“I don’t want to make any sort of allegations or anything,” Lewis said. “But there’s a part of me that wonders, is this a financial motive? Like if you have her so many days a week you get x amount of child support.”
On Thursday, Lewis said he would not be paying for Edward’s attorney, but claimed that he would be open to a discussion where they could work out an arrangement without their lawyers.
“He should have never gone to an attorney in the first place,” Lewis said. “We should have worked that out. It feels like desperation. He should have communicated with me. This is vengeance.”
“I think if he could sit down, I think he could realize whatever the court demands that I pay him, I would be far more generous if we could settle something between he and I,” he continued. “But that’s going to be off the table if he takes me to court.”
Lewis also attempted to explain why he feels they came to hiring lawyers in the first place.
“I think that we both made such major missteps that we got to the point of no return,” he said. “I don’t think either one of us wanted this. I think he’s probably just as angry at himself as he is me. This just got way out of hand.”
Lewis and Edward split in February after ten years together.
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