RHONJ star Melissa Gorga and Bravo's Andy Cohen hit with $30M lawsuit as reality star's ex business partner sues for defamation

Published: 23:30 GMT, 7 December 2017 | Updated: 03:31 GMT, 8 December 2017

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Real Housewives Of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga and Bravo TV's Andy Cohen have been hit with a $30 million lawsuit.

Jackie Beard Robinson, Gorga's former business partner in the boutique Envy, filed suit in Florida alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

News of the legal proceedings were announced in a press release from attorney Larry Klayman on Wednesday.

Sued: Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga and Bravo TV's Andy Cohen have been hit with a $30 million lawsuit by Gorga's former business partner Jackie Beard Robinson

Gorga, 38, partnered with Robinson, who describes herself as a fashion influencer and consultant, to open the fashion store in Montclair, New Jersey, in late 2015.

The lawsuit alleges that Gorga and Cohen acted together to accuse Robinson of stealing merchandise from the store.

The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star claimed on the reality show in an episode that aired on October 4 this year that Robinson 'snuck in in the middle of the night' and took merchandise.

She also agreed during an appearance on Cohen's Watch What Happens Live the same day that she had been 'ripped off' by her ex partner when asked about it by Cohen.

By so doing, Robinson was made to look like a criminal by Gorga and Cohen, the suit alleges.

NBCUniversal and Dorothy Toran, a production executive on RHONJ, are also listed as defendants in the suit.

Gorga partnered with Robinson, who describes herself as a fashion influencer and consultant, to open the fashion store in Montclair, New Jersey, in late 2015. They're pictured at the boutique's Grand Opening in January 14, 2016

On an October 4 episode of Real Housewives Of New Jersey, Gorga accused her ex business partner of sneaking into the store 'in the middle of the night' to remove merchandise. Robinson claims she went there in daylight hours and took property that belonged to her

In the suit, Robinson claims she went to Envy 'on the morning of January 1, 2017, during daylight hours, .... and gathered all of her belongings after she discovered that Defendant Gorga misappropriated over $37,000 from Envy without authorization, among other things.'

The suit claims all the merchandise removed from the boutique was owned by Robinson.

Robinson says she suffered emotional distress and her reputation was harmed by the way she portrayed and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Gorga, second from right, has found fame on the Bravo reality show where she's been a castmember since season three in 2011. Her sister-in-law Teresa Giudice , third from left, is also on the series

Back in January, Gorga issued a statement saying she and Robinson had had 'a difference of opinion' on how Envy should be run and that led to its temporary closure.

On October 5, she told Bravo's The Daily Dish: 'I was devastated when I parted with my business partner. I was pretty blindsided.'

'I woke up one morning and it was completely emptied — and I'm talking about there wasn't even a hanger or a roll of tape left in Envy. So I laid on my couch and I cried for three days straight.'

She also confirmed that she and Robinson had not spoken since the incident on January 1.

Gorga and Cohen, along with NBCUniversal and Dorothy Toran, a production executive on RHONJ, are listed as defendants in the suit filed Wednesday in Florida

The 19-page legal document lays out the history of her business partnership with Gorga

Robinson is seeking to make a case that she was maliciously defamed by Gorga and Cohen on episodes of Real Housewives Of New jersey and Watch What Happens Live