Demi Lovato’s reported boyfriend, designer Henry Levy, reportedly is in the midst of a lawsuit in which he’s been accused of stealing money from family and friends.
Brendan Thompson, a former employee of Levy’s clothing company Enfants Riches Déprimés, sued Levy in July, accusing him of drug use, racist remarks, fraud, failure to pay overtime wages, defamation and more, Radar Online reports.
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In an amended complaint filed in December, Thompson accused Levy of being involved in an “illegal course of conduct.”
“The conduct involved stealing money from family, friends, clients, vendors and various third parties, by authorizing and performing fraudulent credit card transactions,” read the amended complaint, obtained by Radar.
Thompson claims that Levy generated false sales for the clothing company to “pay off his personal bills.”
“His intent was to fund a lavish lifestyle on other people’s money,” the filing from Los Angeles County Court read.
In the initial complaint, Thompson said he began working for Levy on June 15, 2014 as a financial planner until his termination in April 2018. He claimed that he did not receive compensation in 2017 or 2018 for his services, and that he invested over $170,000 of his own money into the company from 2014 to 2018.
He claimed the company intentionally lied to him about his stake.
“Defendants actively concealed this fact in order to take control of the company through illegal and fraudulent means,” the filing said. He also accused Levy of “embezzlement” and “squandering company capital for personal use.”
He said that when he confronted Levy over not being compensated as well as the alleged discrimination Levy showed, he was subject to “hundreds of threatening and inflammatory text messages and emails from Defendants.”
Thompson said that he was subject to racist jokes that demeaned employees with Mexican heritage.
“He was subject to anti-Semitic comments about himself and 3rd parties,” the suit alleged. “He was subject to homophobic and xenophobic rants by Mr. Levy.”
The lawsuit accused Levy of “constant” drug use. “During Mr. Thompson’s employment with ERD, Mr. Levy constantly engaged in illegal drug use and made racially charged remarks concerning employees and other third parties,” the court papers read.
He is seeking $5,000,000 in general damages.
Levy filed a motion for the court to subpoena business records served on Barclays Bank of Delaware and American Express Company, and is accusing Thompson of diverting company funds to his personal banking accounts, as well as his girlfriend’s, who was an independent contractor and employee of ERD.
Levy completed his first of several rehab stints at the age of 15 and attended an outpatient high school; he has also lived in sober living homes over the years, according to Radar.
Lovato and Levy were first romantically linked at the beginning of December, when Lovato was seen kissing Levy in Los Angeles following what looked like a dinner date.
Sources close to Lovato have told Entertainment Tonight that she is “casually dating” Levy since she finished a 90-day rehab stint following her apparent overdose in July — but that her top priority is her health and sobriety.
“Demi and Henry enjoy spending time together and are casually dating,” an insider said. “Demi and Henry started out as friends but quickly realized they had a lot in common. Demi feels comfortable with Henry because she doesn’t have to hide her past and can be honest with him about her addiction and recovery.”
