A Los Angeles court has delivered a legal win for Sofia Vergara after it rejected Nick Loeb‘s final objections over his ex’s rights to frozen pre-embryos the couple created when they were still together.
Vergara, who is 48, and Loeb, 45, ended their engagement in May 2014 after the couple underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) a year before they split. The Modern Family superstar later married Joe Manganiello in November 2015.
Sofia Vergara’s Legal Battle with Ex, Nick Loeb, Began in 2017 After She Filed Documents to a California Court to Block the Producer from Using the Embryos.
Vergara filed legal documents in California in 2017 with the goal of blocking her ex from using the embryos without her written consent. The couple created the embryos together through IVF at the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills when they were still a couple 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.
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Loeb objected to the ruling in Vergara’s favor on March 2. However, the appeal was ultimately rejected by the judge overseeing the case on Monday, People reports.
In the court documents obtained by the outlet, 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.”
Loeb argued that he had signed the Form Directive under “duress” but the court decided that “the Form Directive is not void or voidable based on Defendant Loeb’s duress defense as to its execution.”
In addition, the court found that there is no legal “material fact” to support his previous claims that Loeb and Vergara had made an “oral agreement” that would permit the businessman from implanting the embryos inside a surrogate.
As a result, the court decided that “sufficient grounds exist for permanent injunctive relief” which is legalese stating that Loeb would not be allowed to use the embryos or sue on behalf of them in any capacity without Vergara’s written consent.
The documents obtained by People also state that Loeb “materially breached” the Form Directive by establishing a trust for the embryos under Louisiana law, in an attempt to get legal status of the embryos in Louisiana, suing on behalf of the embryos, and trying to obtain custody and parental rights over the embryos.
In a statement released by Loeb following the ruling on Wednesday, “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.”
What in the what? Did he really release a statement to the press just to promote an upcoming film he directed?
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A court in January rejected Loeb’s custody fight in Louisiana to obtain rights over the embryos. Additionally, the judge entered a reversal of the trial court order that sealed discovery in the case, thus unsealing related documents to the public, according to court documents.
Following the legal loss, an attorney for Loeb claimed that he and his client would be appealing the case to Louisiana’s Supreme Court.