MIAMI — Miami real estate investor and developer Todd Nepola, who is the ex-husband of Real Housewives of Miami veteran Alexia Nepola, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Tuesday against Bravo Media, NBCUniversal Media and Purveyors of Pop Productions -- the companies behind the show.
In the lawsuit, Todd Nepola accused the companies of defamation and using his name and likeness to fabricate and amplify false storylines for Alexia, who announced in the first part of the Real Housewives reunion last week that she would be dropping Nepola as her last name.
The lawsuit claims that the show falsely portrayed Nepola as someone who is facing financial distress.
“As one editor of a reality show explained last year, ‘Editors have been instructed for years to feed you counterfeit drama to keep you watching so the networks could get more money from advertisers - so network executives could show more profits and give themselves higher salaries,’” the complaint reads.
According to the complaint, multiple statements were made alleging that Nepola’s business was struggling, forcing him and Alexia to break the lease on their apartment and find somewhere cheaper to live within less than a week.
Nepola claims those statements were lies, and that even though he confronted producers about the false statements, they told him they didn’t care.
The lawsuit states that the accusations made against Nepola on the show have caused “damage (to) his reputation in the Miami business community.”
“Mr. Nepola wanted to be Alexia’s husband, not her storyline,” the complaint reads. “Enough is enough.”
Nepola is seeking $10 million in damages for defamation and $1 million for unauthorized use of his name and likeness. He is also seeking an injunctive relief to prevent further misuse or rebroadcast of his image.
Local 10 News has reached out to Alexia and the producers of the show for comment.
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