One of the reasons why I’m always happy for Sofia Vergara these days is because she got far away from her psycho ex, Nick Loeb, and has found complete happiness with Joe Manganiello, who seems to adore her and respect her. Sofia never seemed happy with Loeb. Now we know why – because he’s a total douche who is constantly trying to manipulate her and harass her. He’s been harassing her through the legal system since they split in 2014. That’s right, more than six years have passed since they broke up, and he’s still trying to “get custody” of some embryos they made when they were together. I periodically check in on this story whenever there’s some new court case or ruling, and that’s what’s happening here – Loeb had been pursuing this sh-t in Louisiana courts because he thinks that state’s court system will be more sympathetic to his bullsh-t. Louisiana said “nah.” And so he went back to court in Los Angeles. And that court has just shut him down too.
A Los Angeles court has rejected Nick Loeb’s final objections regarding the ongoing court battle with Sofia Vergara over rights to frozen pre-embryos they created while together. Vergara, 48, and Loeb, 45, ended their engagement in May 2014 after having undergone in vitro fertilization the year prior. The Modern Family actress, who has an adult son named Manolo, later married Joe Manganiello in November 2015.
In 2017, Vergara filed legal documents in California hoping to block Loeb from being able to use, without her written consent, the frozen pre-embryos they created via IVF at the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills when they were still together in 2013. Earlier this month a judge ruled in the actress’s favor, citing the “Form Directive” they both signed at the fertility clinic agreeing that both parties had to agree in order to do anything with the embryos.
Loeb made objections to the ruling, but in court documents obtained by PEOPLE, a judge rejected his final attempts on Monday. In the documents obtained by PEOPLE, the judge stated that any action by Loeb “to cause the implantation of the Embryos in a surrogate, or by other means of gestation, constitutes a violation of the Form Directive.”
The businessman previously argued that he signed this form under “duress,” but the court found that “the Form Directive is not void or voidable based on Defendant Loeb’s duress defense as to its execution.” Further, it found that there is no “material fact” supporting his previous claim that he and Vergara had an “oral agreement” that would allow him to implant the embryos in a surrogate to be born.
As a result, the court found that “sufficient grounds exist for permanent injunctive relief” meaning that Loeb is unable to use the embryos or sue on behalf of them in any capacity without Vergara’s consent. The documents also reveal the businessman “materially breached” the Form Directive by setting up a trust for the embryos under Louisiana law, attempting to get legal status of the embryos in Louisiana, suing on behalf of the embryos, and attempting to gain custody and parental rights over the embryos.
Loeb said in a statement Wednesday that “the judge was clearly influenced by Hollywood, which is a pattern I expose in my upcoming film Roe v. Wade on April 2. It’s sad that Sofia, a devout Catholic, would intentionally create babies just to kill them.”
God, he’s disgusting. Just reprehensible in every single way. And the only reason he even went to court in LA is because the more conservative “anti-choice” courts in Louisiana shut him down too, so I have no idea why he’s whining about the court being “clearly influenced by Hollywood.” The man is deranged and he’s clearly obsessed with Sofia and trying to abuse Sofia through the court system. The thing is, what is the remedy for this? She could try to file for a protection order, but it’s not like he’s actually trying to get physically close to her. He’s just trying to stay in her life through all of these lawsuits and bullsh-t. Vile.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Don’t you guys in the US have a limit on how many times a person can sue for basicly the same thing? I mean seriously? Or is it just infinite times if they have money?
ETA: Just checked his Roe v. Wade movie. He’s the director, writer and the star? Jon Voight? Stacey Dash? Oh dear lord.
Did he forget to call Kirk Cameron?
He made a Roe vs Wade movie? With that batch involved? My god he’s a piece of work. He needs a good psychiatrist to work out this obsession of his. I suppose in his eyes after he got those “babies” of his, as I bet he would use them all, he would sue her for child support. This is one of the most messed up stories about exes I have heard that didn’t involve violence I have heard.
He will inherit large, it’s not about the money. He wants to spend the next 18 years of the girl’s lives showing up everywhere she is and using a microphone to publicly ask her why she won’t be a mommy to their two girls. He wants to go to publication after publication to tell the whole world she is an abusive mother who abandoned her children. That’s his aim, that’s his goal. He wants to humiliate the one who got away, forever. He is, if you will pardon the language, one sick little mfkr.
Joe was on Conan and could not have been more charming and funny. He was quick, laughed a lot, and acted way more full of personality than I expected. Who knew? So every time she looks at him w/a grin she’ll be glad she got away from Loeb.
A stunt to create a way to market his movie
Isn’t it possible to have him declared a vexatious litigant and bar him from any further legal action on this? I know it’s a high standard, but it’s been six years and it’s clear he’s only doing it to keep abusing her.
The judge just made a ruling that he can’t do a damn thing about the embryos unless Sofia agrees in writing. He’s done isn’t he?
Except he keeps trying to bring it back in other jurisdictions. He’s bounced from California to Louisiana and back.
Okay, I thought the ruling was country wide, not state wide. I thought the American court system was federal?
Yeah, she could absolutely ask the court to declare him a vexatious litigant and she should.
For those who don’t know, it would require him to meet a higher threshold to file a lawsuit against her than anybody else, before she would be required to respond to it. If a court made that declaration, in for instance California, it wouldn’t be valid in another state, but her lawyers could certainly bring that to another court’s attention and make the same request, if he were to keep trying this.
I agree. Another court would look at that declaration of vexatious litigant, which is an extraordinary step and not frequently invoked, and would likely be more inclined to at least toss the lawsuit in that jurisdiction, if not also declare him a vexatious litigant.
This smug douchecanoe. I’m glad that the judges aren’t buying the BS he’s shoveling.
Ugh, this ahole. He isn’t doing this because he wants kids, he’s doing this because it’s the only way to try to control Sofia which he can’t do. If he truly wanted kids, he would have gotten into another relationship (not sure he is with anyone?), tried to adopt, or used a surrogate (gestational carrier? I truly don’t know the difference) with a donor egg or something. I’m thankful he doesn’t have kids because I would fear for whoever had to deal with this person as a parent.
I do wonder what will happen to the pre-embryos though. If they aren’t going to be used by Sofia or Nick, does that mean they will be destroyed at some point? I guess you can pay for them to be stored but that can’t happen indefinitely I’m guessing? It isn’t harming anyone for them to just sit there but I do wonder what happens when two parties can’t agree what to do with them.
I think I read in another article that he has a child/infant with a woman he currently lives with.
They need to be destroyed, (the eggs). Sophia is their mother and she doesn’t want them. I can’t believe he moved to Louisiana just to harass her more. She should sue him for every penny he has except I’m sure the last thing she wants is another court case with him. What a tool, I.m sure her husband wants to kick his ass.
The embryos will remain in frozen limbo, I guess. The Form Directive they both agreed to and signed says that no disposition of the embryos, whether implantation, destruction, or something else, can happen without mutual consent. Sofia won’t agree to implantation, and Nick won’t agree to destruction, so they’ll sit in cryonic storage until either the embryos are no longer viable or one of them dies and the other decides what to do with them.
And we don’t know all the contents of the Form Directive. There may be a clause that states that the wishes of the parties survives death. So if Sofia dies and such a clause exists, Nick would still be SOL.
I’d think it also depends on to whom the bill for freezing goes. If he’s paying for storage, yeah, I think out of spite, he’d keep paying till the day he dies. If she is, I’d stop paying (could she do that legally??).
I would gladly contribute to the legal fund of the lab tech who “accidentally” took the embryos out of the freezer and left them on the counter for a few days. It’s not fair for Sofia (or any woman) to be mentally tortured and held psychological hostage like this.
My fear is that he will now become a diversion tactic by Fox News. These crazies would love to once again use this as a rallying cry to avoid any real work on policy or helping everyday Americans (including children). I fell awful for Sophia. This is abuse.
I was thinking this too. Or he will “move“ to some other M AGA state and try the courts there.
This needs to change. My ex did this to me as well, the courts let abusive people use the legal process to continue harassing their victims as punishment for leaving, and it needs to end.
God, I’m so incredibly sorry for what you (and Sofia) have had to endure. This is truly some of the most terrifying non-physical abuse I’ve ever heard of, and it’s disturbing how many people refuse to call it what it is just because these men aren’t leaving you with black eyes or broken bones. There’s an additional element of horror in Sofia’s case because she’s a public figure, and that “she wants to kill babies” talk could easily incite some forced-birth fanatic to violence. Something MUST be done to protect women from this type of abuse.
Is this his final shot then? Is there any other legal recourse he can attempt? God, I hope not. She seems to be happy but this must be so wearing on her, not to mention a financial drain. He’s like a spectre hanging over her.
I hate this guy. So glad that she is at least out of the relationship.
Her new man is hot, this must bug him even more, Sophia went from a compete and utter ugly (inside and out, his asshole like ways manifest in his face) idiot to an Adonis.
While Nick is an abusive a-hole, no doubt about it, I don’t think this matter is entirely about control. I think there’s a financial motive here too.
The man has never been really successful at anything. He’s founded a few companies, which are surviving but hardly giant moneymakers. He’s run for office — unsuccessfully. He’s produced a couple of films, which tanked. He’s had some acting roles in a few films, all of which tanked. As far as I can tell, he just sort of hangs around the edges of things — industries, businesses, politics — without ever making a splash. His relationship with Sofia was the high point of his life.
He’s related to cash by marriage (Edgar Bronfman is an uncle by marriage), but doesn’t have access to it. And while various sources say his net worth is 10 million, that doesn’t count for much in Hollywood or politics. Bringing the embryos to term would put Sofia on the hook for hefty child support, as well as give Nick an entree into her life.
There must be a part of her that wakes up every day dreading a call from her lawyer. It’s so horrible she has to be subjected to this utter nonsense.
This guy is the epitome of a loser
If these pro-life assholes really cared about kids , there are tons of children in the foster system that need parents and he and the rest of the pro lifers could step in and give kids a home. But of course these idiots are more concerned about arguing that a cluster of cells are people instead of caring about actual people. I’m glad Sophia is done with him and landed her hot hunky husband.
If they cared about kids, they’d also be all in on maternal care, beefing up welfare, getting health care for all, working for environmental standards, etc. They do not care about kids. They just want to control women.
ugh. this guy is so effing abusive, stalkerish, and gross. he’s so intent on inserting himself into her life even now it’s horrific, and i really feel for her having to deal with this shizz – like he’s making sure she still has to think about him ALL THE TIME. as someone who managed to escape an abusive narcissist, this hits HARD!! 🙁
also, she’s not “killing babies”, ffs!! they’re zygotes or embryos at most. she’s moved on with her life – why can’t he?!? 😖