Gretchen Rossi Lawsuit: Jay Photoglou Lawsuit Alleges Conspiracy Involving Bravo TV
Gretchen Rossi, Jay Photoglou
There’s more to the Jay Photoglou lawsuit than Photoglou suing Gretchen Rossi. In the suit, Photoglou is alleging a conspiracy involving Gretchen and 50 other unnamed co-defendants: Photoglou alleges the unnamed co-defendants were involved in a conspiracy to cover up Gretchen and Photoglou’s relationship as a couple, persons who could be construed as Bravo TV, Bravo TV employees, Gretchen’s now deceased fiance Jeff Beitzel, Beitzel’s kids, Slade Smiley, Jo de la Rosa, and, Gretchen’s family and friends.
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Here’s a few of Photoglou’s allegations in the lawsuit filed on January 29, 2009, at the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“The case is about the deception, lies and defamatory statements lodged by Rossi towards Photoglou in an effort to hide the fact that she was dating Photoglou while professing to the public she was engaged to another man”.
Photoglou alleges:
Gretchen Rossi, in an attempt to hide a secret relationship once it was exposed, Gretchen denied the truth then embarked on a crusade to publicly defame Jay Photoglou as an obsessive stalker including filing a false restraining order. Included in the claim, a post written by Gretchen posted on Gretchen’s blog.
Photoglou claims he’s the innocent victim of Gretchen’s retribution, guilty of “nothing more than telling the truth about an intimate relationship”. Or is he guilty of something more?
Some allege Jay Photoglou was the source of the infamous Gretchen nude photos, including one with a vibrator, that were plastered on the web during the period Photoglou claims Gretchen had broken off their relationship.
Included in Photoglou’s lawsuits: 49 other defendants, “fictitious Does”, persons whom Photoglou believes “were in some way responsible for, participated in, or contributed to” Photoglou’s complaints of libel and slander. Photoglou names “servants”, employees”, and “agents” as possible yet unnamed defendants. Who are the potential “fictitious Does?” A read-through of the allegations gives some clues.
Photoglou begins to weave his tale of a secret relationship with Rossi by stating that he and Rossi met through a mutual friend in July of 2007. The two chatted on Facebook in December, 2007 where Gretchen claimed she was taking care of an ex-boyfriend with a terminal illness-Jeff Beitzel. The two began dating in January 2008 until February, 2009. Photoglou alleges the two were a couple during this period.
Photoglou alleges that on, or about March, 2008 Gretchen was approached by Slade Smiley and Jo de La Rosa (at a dinner). According to Photoglou, Smiley and La Rosa represented they could get Gretchen a part on Real Housewives and asked if she was interested. Photoglou alleges Gretchen was interviewed the next day.
This was in the lawsuit. In an interview, posted on August 3, 2009, Photoglou gave more details.
Jay Photoglou: “This photo was taken on the day Jay met Slade and Jo for the first time and Slade asked Gretchen to be on the show. This picture was taken in March 2008 . (Jo and Slade are in the back in the picture)”
More from Jay Photoglou:
In the last paragraph of this document you will read that we fought about her doing this show. WE DID. It was because I heard Slade that night telling Jo, He’s Rich, He’s Old, He’s dying”. She loved a man that loved her and she was taking care of him. I did not think this was a good idea but Gretchen was bent on being on television and convinced Jeff and I it was for the best¦
That’s right, according to Jay Photoglou Slade had made the “He’s rich, he’s old, he’s dying” comment to Jo, that the two then approached Gretchen then asked her to appear on Real Housewives.
Photoglou then claims Gretchen “convinced” Jeff that it was “for the best”. There’s more.
The Conspiracy Takes Flight
In the lawsuit, Photoglou alleges Gretchen had an interview the next day with Bravo TV. That Bravo TV asked Gretchen to appear as Jeff’s caretaker then later asked Gretchen to change her story and pretend she was Jeff’s girlfriend then his fiance. An allegation which directly accuses Bravo TV of requesting a potential castmate to lie about her relationship and that Gretchen, as well as Jeff, complied with their “request”. Including in the charade: Jeff’s kids, who appeared on Real Housewives, Gretchen’s friends and family, who according to Photoglou were aware Jeff wasn’t Gretchen’s fiance.
While Gretchen is a lovely person with a sunny personality, the allegation that Bravo TV producers and employees would perpetrate this type of lie on the viewing public in order to have Gretchen, an unknown commodity on the show, is incredulous.
Photoglou asserts the charade was carried out with the help of Gretchen’s family and friends, who, according to Photoglou knew the “real truth”, that Photoglou was Gretchen’s boyfriend.
If Photoglou’s claims are true, then there’s one defendant missing from suit: Jay Photoglou, who by his own admission, went along with the charade up until the time period when he reached out to Tamra Barney in the infamous, middle of the night phone call. The phone call Tamra Barney used as ammunition during the reunion show, claiming Gretchen wasn’t engaged to Jeff, and was instead his caretaker, a “sick old man”. (At the time of his death, Jeff Beitzel was 54, the same age as Jeanna Keough, two years older than Lynne Curtin, and, seven years older than Vicki Gunvalson.
Tamra Barney may now be regretting she took Jay Photoglou’s phone calls. Quite frankly, some, including myself, wonder why on earth she’d speak to stranger calling in the middle of night, a man she’d never met, a man whose accusations were against a friend. Why Tamra made the decision to expose Gretchen on national tv based on the accusations of a man she didn’t know?
Prior to Tamra-and Vicki Gunvalson, and to a small extent, Jeanna Keough-turning on Gretchen on the Real Housewives Reunion show, there was a unwritten code, followed by Housewives going back to season one, regarding carefully guarding the personal lives and secrets of the Housewives. As someone who has written and watched Real Housewives of the OC since season one there’s been plenty of juicy gossip regarding the Housewive’s personal lives which hasn’t been aired on the show due, in part, to the Housewives’s unwritten code: What happens or happened in your personal relationships, stays in the personal relationships. Details from personal lives such as marriage counseling-Tamra admitted on her blog she and Simon had been seeing a marriage counselor since before she went on the show. A detail omitted from the show and only divulged by Tamra after Simon filed for divorce.
Another detail omitted from the Housewive’s on-camera conversations, last season’s trip to Vegas. A trip which Vicki Gunvalson may have been involved in some extracurricular sexual hanky-panky.
Tamra Barney broke the code wide open with accusations of being on the show under false pretenses, accusations which were not only labeled at Gretchen but at Jeff, who was now dead and unable to defend himself, and his children.
Since Tamra Barney chose to align herself with Jay Photoglou, one wonders what will happen when she realizes that her buddy has now implicated Bravo TV in the scheme in a lawsuit? A lawsuit, which there’s no doubt, Tamra Barney will now be required to testify as a witness?
As for Gretchen’s side of the story, Gretchen filed a document which can be seen at this link.
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Photoglou is a joke! He has a criminal record and a history of doing things like this. He just thought he would try it out on a celebrity. I think you should look up his criminal record and post that. I heard he has no less than 3 counts of domestic violence and multiple restraining orders not to mention more than 9 pages of criminal cases against him. Please expose this guy.
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Marissa Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 15:32
Jay Photoglou is a nasty, disgusting, bloated tool. It’s been two years and Jay is still lurking in Gretchens business. Apparently Jay felt the need to have someone make a website soley to trash Gretchen. And Jays 5 followers (all fugly old hags) What woman sides with a man who stalks a woman for two years? Only jealous old lonely hags, who have no man or life!!!
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OK, this lawsuit makes no sense whatsoever.
If according to Jay, Jeff complied with Bravo’s request to pair with Gretchen and Jeff’s kids were aware that Jeff was not Gretchen’s fiance, I’m not sure what the problem is….everyone who matters is on board with it except for Jay.
Jeff and Gretchen were consenting adults and they obviously chose a path that Jay considers fraudulent.
So who cares what Jay thinks?
Obviously, in spite of the pretend relationship, Jeff still chose to leave Gretchen his estate. His kids would have known at the time that their inheritance could be diverted to Gretchen – yet they’ve said nothing publicly either before or after Jeff’s passing.
it all strikes me as rather strange that Jeff’s kids – who had an inheritance to lose by this – have said nothing and yet Jay P. is the one who is upset and wants to set the record straight. :/
What a stupid lawsuit.
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[...] Funny how time reveals certain truths as it was less than five months after Jeff Beitzel’s death in September of 2008 Gretchen was “dating” Slade. Not mentioned on the reunion show, a certain lawsuit filed in a California court by a man named Jay Photoglou who claims he was in a relationship with Gretchen when Gretchen signed on to Real Housewives. A relationship which Photoglou alleges Bravo TV was more than aware of and which continued while Gretchen claimed she was engaged to Jeff Beitzel until Gretchen took up with Slade. Photoglou claims he and Gretchen agreed to keep their relationship secret from viewers while Gretchen and Jeff Beitzel portrayed themselves on Real Housewives as engaged. For more info on the lawsuit–Photoglou is alleging Gretchen slandered and libeled him during last season’s reunion– see Gretchen Rossi Lawsuit: Jay Photoglou Lawsuit Alleges Conspiracy Involving Bravo TV. [...]
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[...] day prior to filming the season five reunion show on January 29, 2010, Photoglou filed a lawsuit against Gretchen alleging slander and libel. Photoglou alleged he was Gretchen’s boyfriend [...]
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