Shade of the Week: Jeff Lewis
I don't know who's side I'm on in this Flipping Out feud but I need to talk about it.
I'm new to Flipping Out, I've always known what the show was about, I obviously knew who Jeff and Jenni were and I've seen episodes here and there but this is my first season actually watching it and I don't know how to feel. It's not like the usual HGTV style renovation shows because it takes them seasons to finish their luxury mansions but by the time they are done renovating you no longer care because the build takes so long and consisted of so much petty drama and anger speaker phone fights that you're just glad it's fucking over.
This show is full of Bravo's antiheroes. Jeff and his judgemental team full of negative people, especially that assistant who can barely keep his eyes open are fine to watch but their "I hate the world mentality" was only made bearable with the contrast of Jenni's squeaky voice and upbeat personality. Without her comedic relief being injected into the show I don't think it can work because it would literally just be watching a bunch of mean selfish employees whining about a contractor painting a door the wrong colour or Jeff making people spend months rebuilding something that looked fine the first time. I may not care for Jenni's rapping, but the Julia Louis-Dreyfus lookalike really is the glue of this show.
The assistant whose names escapes me sucks, the blonde design girl who goes with Jeff to job sites is okay but she seems like a snake that would pounce at any moment, their "house manager" reminds me of Vicki's passive-aggressive assistant on RHOC which I love, and Gage is the fucking worst. I don't know if we've ever seen a reality star more boring than Gage Edward. He sits on the computer in the corner and complains about dumb shit in his monotone voice while everyone has to ignore the fact he only has his job because he's fucking the boss. Do they even fuck? It would be one thing if we saw him walk around shirtless once and a while but he's too boring to even do that. He reminds of a judgemental cheerleader in high school who would make out with you behind the bleachers and then slushie you Glee-style in public.
The actual beef between Jenni and Jeff is why I really made him this week's shade. I haven't really picked a side yet and I don't necessarily not like Jeff Lewis, but I needed to talk about this feud and he's the one who's exhibited the most shadeworthy behaviour thus far on social media. After the news leaked (coincidentally right before the premiere of the new season) that Jeff and Jenni decided to end their friendship, Jeff took to his radio show to confirm they ended their business relationship amicably on the show, however, apparently Jenni went behind the scenes and reported him for abuse to their bosses which was a cunty thing to do to a friend of almost 20 years.
We don't know what happened and even though we'll see the demise of their friendship on the show we definitely won't get to see the REAL demise of it because it took place off camera and the show won't be able to break the fourth wall with Jenni reporting him to production. It just doesn't seem like a Jenni thing to do, which is why I want her to tell her side of her story on a podcast, People Magazine interview or something because it just doesn't make sense. Following the news of their feud, Jeff has been working OVERTIME to piss off Bravo.
He revealed behind the scenes Bravo tea on his radio show and gave spoilers about the new season which obviously annoyed Bravo more than a demanding Housewife does and he didn't help things when he posted the Flipping Out cast photo with an X above Jenni's face. Why Jeff? Putting an X over her face isn't just a spur of the moment thing either. You need to download an app, put the X on the face, save the photo, which shows how premeditated it was. I'm not mad at Jeff because I love the insider tea he's been giving us about this feud and he never fails to provide me with content due to his bitchy ways, but he can't be surprised that Bravo would choose to cancel his show if he's fucking them over at every turn.
His latest infringement was him posting THIS photo with the caption "No going away party Bravo?" His Bravo contract has officially run out and hasn't been renewed. It doesn't mean the show has officially been cancelled but it will probably just slowly disappear off the Bravo schedule Miami Housewives style. Andy Cohen also increased Jeff's Sirius XM radio show to three days a week to give him something to do, which in my mind confirms his Flipping Out days are more dead than Michael Jackson. And is that bad? Do we need this show anymore? He's had an eleven year run on TV, gone through more employees than he does underwear, made countless people cry, built nice houses, got rich as fuck and has a decent Instagram following. What more could he want?
I'm not sure how much Flipping Out can really give us and without Jenni, it seems like the logical thing for it to end. And no, we don't need a spinoff about Jeff and Gage's life in the future because while the male Bethenny Frankel is the interesting one in the relationship, his big personality doesn't make up for Gage being a sook and a wet blanket and I think we can all just watch Monroe grow from Jeff's Instagram feed.
Jeff revealed he kept Jenni around for years as his fake assistant in front of the Bravo cameras because he believed his show would get cancelled without her on it but he ended up getting it cancelled all on his own when he gave the world spoilers and behind the scenes tea on the show, ran his mouth on social media and pissed off the Bravo execs in the process. He obviously can't be surprised on the plug being pulled on his reality career and he's better on the radio getting serious scoop out of Bravolebrities and talking shit about Vicki Gunvalson anyway.