Jeff Lewis may be (flipping) out of a job and is asking fans for their help.
The Flipping Out star, 48, endorsed a fan-created Change.org petition, calling for Bravo executives to renew Lewis’ contract, two days after he revealed he will not be returning to the network. The news is yet another chapter in Lewis’ tumultuous few months that saw a scathing lawsuit and personal complaints filed against him.
“I’m normally not political, but this is an important cause,” Lewis wrote on Instagram Wednesday, along with a photo of the petition, which reached its initial goal of 25,000 signatures.
Reps for Bravo previously confirmed to PEOPLE that “nothing official has been determined” regarding Flipping Out. They had no comment on the status of Lewis’ contract.
“Fans of Bravo’s hit television show Flipping Out are devastated Bravo executives made the decision not to renew Jeff’s contract, essentially ending the series with this decision. Though the series is not without controversy, what Bravo TV franchise isn’t?” the petition’s description stated.
The description concluded, “The show probably isn’t going to last forever. But this abrupt end just as soon as Gage and Jeff become fathers doesn’t feel like the right place to end it. Bravo executives need to sit down and work out their differences with Jeff, and renew his contract, without delay.”
Lewis previously revealed that his Bravo contract was set to expire on Oct. 15 and that he was not expecting it to be renewed.
“Because of all of the issues that have been going on with me — you know, the pending lawsuits, and also the [Jeff Lewis Live] radio show — it has created a lot of problems for me at Bravo, because I have talked about behind-the-scenes, I’ve talked about contracts,” the famously hot-tempered house flipper said during a recent appearance on Jenny McCarthy’s SiriusXM radio show.
“So I’ve had a lot of heat from Bravo. … I am looking for a job,” he said.
And on Tuesday, during his radio show, Lewis read alleged text messages from Andy Cohen, in which the Bravo executive producer expressed his discontent with Lewis.
“I normally would never read his texts on air — but the reason I would read this is that he has changed his strategy with me,” Lewis said. “Yesterday, I think when it happened, he thought, ‘I’m not getting through to him by screaming at him. I’m not getting through to him by writing nasty, threatening texts. I’m going to try a different strategy.’ ”
Though Lewis told Cohen, 50, that “he was making fun of the situation,” the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen star was allegedly not buying it.
Cohen allegedly also asked Lewis rhetorically if he didn’t have an agent who could let competitors know he might be on the market for a new job. “You’re just pissing everyone there off again and making them think Bravo is cancelling the show, which doesn’t make them look good,” Cohen allegedly texted. “If you’re doing it to work somewhere else, I get it.”
Bravo did not return a request for comment from Cohen.
Lewis has been at the center of two major controversies in recent months. He came under fire in June, when the surrogate who carried his and partner Gage Edward’s daughter Monroe, now almost 2, sued the couple, Bravo and Flipping Out’s production company, Authentic Entertainment, for allegedly filming her delivery without her permission, among other issues.
Then in September, just before the season 11 premiere of Flipping Out, PEOPLE exclusively reported that Lewis had also parted ways with his friend of nearly 20 years and costar Jenni Pulos, after a huge fight that was reportedly caught on film and will be part of the show’s current season. Lewis claims Pulos reported him to Bravo for “abuse and victimization” and later wrongful termination.
Flipping Out airs Tuesdays (10 p.m. ET) on Bravo.
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