The court drama between former Teen Mom 2 star Chelsea Houska and the consulting firm suing her for $4 million took another turn last week. Envy filed a lawsuit against Houska, 31, and her husband, Cole DeBoer, 33, in 2020, accusing them of withholding money made from social media promotions. The firm is also requesting a cut of Houska’s Teen Mom earnings, a request Houska and DeBoer are now fighting.
Envy’s original lawsuit sought $3 million from the couple, but the company later filed an amended complaint. The couple’s companies Down Home DeBoer, Aubree Says, Dakota Ln LLC, and DeBoer Holding Company were all added as defendants, and they increased the demand to $4 million. On March 21, The Sun reported that Envy also wants a share of Houska and DeBoer’s earnings from Teen Mom 2.
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The couple “generated millions of dollars in revenue from Licensing Agreements,” Envy claimed in a letter to the judge. “Most notably, they generated millions of dollars of revenue from Viacom and New Remote Productions pursuant to certain agreements and amendments entered into therewith.” The company adds that it “negotiated and assisted” Houser and DeBoer with complying with an agreement with Viacom. Envy claims there was a “dispute” when Houska and DeBoer “failed to pay Envy its portion of revenue generated from the Viacom Agreements.” (Viacom was Teen Mom network MTV’s parent company until it merged with CBS Corporation, creating ViacomCBS, since renamed Paramount Global.)
Houska and DeBoer’s team doesn’t agree that Envy should have any money from their Teen Mom 2 earnings. “The Viacom deal is not encompassed by the parties’ contracts and the sums sought are therefore not recoverable,” their legal team wrote, reports The Sun. “Envy did not perform substantial work on the Viacom deals and Envy is not a licensed employment agency in New York.”
“Envy should not be compensated for work it did not perform and was not contracted to perform,” their response continues. “Chelsea, and later Cole, starred on Teen Mom 2 prior to Envy ever being retained. Envy cannot show that Chelsea and Cole were enriched by Envy’s efforts to negotiate contracts to appear on a show on which they already starred for several seasons.”
The couple’s team wants the judge to dismiss Envy’s claim that it has any rights to their Teen Mom 2 earnings. The next court hearing is a pre-motion conference scheduled for April 11 in New York City. It is unclear if Houska and DeBoer need to attend.
Houska signed a contract with Envy in 2015 and DeBoer signed a year later, according to the firm’s lawsuit. Envy accused Houska of telling brands to pay her directly, cutting Envy out of licensing fees. They also accused the couple of failing to follow through with their responsibilities to several brands. Envy later changed its lawsuit after the reality TV stars “failed to disclose the existence” of their own companies. In their original countersuit, Houska and DeBoer accused Envy of withholding over $150,000, allegations Envy denied.
Earlier in March, The Sun reported that Envy and Houska told the judge their teams finished preparing the evidence they plan to present at the trial. Both parties also agreed not to seek an out-of-court settlement before the trial begins.
