Jeff Lewis Says He's 'Going to Fight' Custody Battle with Ex Gage Edward to 'the Bitter End'
Jeff Lewis says he is facing another hurdle in his ongoing custody battle with ex Gage Edward.
On Thursday, the Flipping Out alum revealed on his SiriusXM radio show Jeff Lewis Live the status of his ongoing discussions with Edward over the custody of their 3-year-old daughter Monroe.
The former couple, who split last January after 10 years of dating, had been operating on a temporary custody agreement for months while they worked out a formal arrangement in private mediation.
That paperwork, it turns out, was ready to sign earlier this month. But according to Lewis, it included terms Lewis no longer agreed to. And negotiations had gotten so bad that Lewis was now refusing to move forward with their proposal, and was ready to turn things over to a judge.
“I’m going to fight this to the bitter f—ing end,” Lewis, 49, said. “If I felt like the motivation was pure and this was about our daughter, then I’d be very open to mediation or whatever. But because I really believe that this is serving [Edward’s] best interest, I will fight it. If we have to go to court, we go to court.”
Reached for comment, Edward, 34, provided the following statement to PEOPLE:
“I will continue to stay silent on the issues related to our private custody case. To address the derogatory and slanderous statements being made about me would be putting my interest above our daughter’s. The situation is being exploited for attention, which is sad because that ultimately only affects our daughter later. What I will say is that there are gross mistruths in the majority of what’s been said.”
On the show, Lewis said his main issue centered around Edward’s request to split Monroe’s time more evenly between her two parents.
As their temporary agreement currently stands, Edward gets Monroe on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, equaling a 70/30 custody split in favor of Lewis. But Edward is proposing a 57/43 split, which Lewis claimed isn’t in Monroe’s best interest.
“The reason I think it should stay the way it is because a) I think it’s best for Monroe, and b) I put Monroe first before myself and everything I do is Monroe-centric,” Lewis said. “The problem with this 43 percent that he’s asking for is, he’s not even honoring the current schedule at 30 percent. So how you going to do 43, if you can’t even do 30?”
From there, Lewis went on to say that he felt Edward was simply looking for financial support, claiming that the two had a verbal child support agreement that was left out of the written custody agreement.
“We had talked about a cash upfront thing and it would be done and he was going to waive child support. But I kind of think now…there’s a whole plan in place,” Lewis said. “I hate to think this but… normally when someone is caught up in the days and the hours and the percentages, it usually means there’s some sort of child support motivation.”
“I do believe this is money-motivated,” Lewis continued. “Whether or not he feels that 30 percent is best for Monroe or 40 percent is best for Monroe, it doesn’t matter because I feel like it’s money-motivated.”
Since Lewis and Edward went their separate ways, it’s been a rocky road for both — with Lewis often describing in detail their ups and downs on his radio show,
In October, Lewis said the two were no longer engaging in any friendly communication with one another, though they got together days later to celebrate Monroe’s birthday.
Earlier that month, Lewis lamented about the high legal fees their custody dispute had racked up so far.
“We are in this combined at $80,000. We have nothing in place. We don’t have a financial settlement, we have nothing. And we’re already at $80,000,” said Lewis, noting their legal counsel costs “$550 to $650 an hour.”
On Friday’s show, Lewis said that Edward is asking for his legal fees to be covered by Lewis, who says he’s opposed to it.
RELATED: Jeff Lewis Cuts All Contact with Ex Amid Custody Dispute: ‘I No Longer Want to Communicate’
Meanwhile, Lewis has moved on to a new relationship with boyfriend Scott Anderson; the two went public with their romance back in June, and made it Instagram official in August.
Back in December, Lewis told Andy Cohen that he was ready to walk down the aisle.
“I got to put a ring on it. I’m going to have to put a ring on it,” Lewis revealed. “I would consider putting a ring on it.”
“There was always some apprehension [with Edward],” Lewis continued. “But we get along so well, me and the new guy. We get along really well. It’s really nice.”
Jeff Lewis Live airs weekdays (12 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM (Ch. 102)
