Rob Lowe, wife embroiled in litigation with former nanny

In a commentary written for the Huffington Post on April 7th, Rob Lowe alleged that a "former employee" was attempting to extort $1.5 million from he and wife Sheryl.  That employee, whom we now know to be 24-year-old Jessica Gibson, acted as a nanny to the couple’s two children — Matthew Edward/Edward Matthew, (both names reported) 14 and John Owen, 13 — off-and-on for seven years. 

In the op-ed piece, Jessica was accused by the 44-year-old actor of lodging false harassment claims in "an attempt to damage and humiliate not only my wife and me, but our two young sons as well"; In an April 8th complaint, the Lowes claimed that Jessica violated a confidentiality agreement by speaking publicly about the couple.   

But yesterday in her own sexual harassment lawsuit, and again this morning in an appearance on the Today Show, Jessica fired back — offering up a different version of events entirely.  She denied Rob’s allegation of extortion and instead claimed that Rob acted inappropriately during her tenure.  When asked by Today co-host Meredith Viera why she remained on the job for so long, Jessica said that Edward and John were a factor.

I love the children. I needed the job. I thought it would get better, and I was scared.

The Lowes are scheduled to give a deposition in the case in mid-May, Jessica’s attorney Gloria Allred said this morning.  An attorney for the Lowes issued a statement to Today, denying Jessica’s allegations as "simply untrue."

Sources:  People, TMZ

Comments

Jessica on April 15th, 2008

I actually believe Rob, all this girl is trying to do is get a couple bucks and her five minutes of fame. I think that she came onto him and he said NO. And she is just bitter. She trying to pull that innocent act but I don’t believe it one second. Its time someone stood up to these girls!!!

nosoupforyou on April 15th, 2008

It’s “Matthew Edward” not “Edward Matthew.”

Jenny on April 15th, 2008

I don’t know what to think, because as a nanny that works in the area where Rob Lowe lives, I have (briefly!) worked for a couple really sketchy families. You would not believe some of the things that go on! On the other hand, I have worked for wonderful families, and I have a hard time believing the nanny…no one in there right mind would work for 7 years “off and on” if they were being treated badly, especially in the Santa Barbara area, where experienced nannies are so in demand.

Yasmin on April 15th, 2008

It doesn’t look very good that the Nanny didn’t leave immmediately after the so called “incidents” happened. That will not go in her favour. She seems opportunistic to me.

brooke on April 15th, 2008

Rob is a favorite actor of mine, and so handsome, but I’m not surprised this is going on. There have been rumors of him cheating and other stuff with women, through the years. So it wouldn’t shock me, if something went down with the young nanny.

Ekaterina on April 15th, 2008

I read the email she sent them when she quit, just before she sued. You don’t write that kind of stuff to people you are going to sue. When she was asked this morning on MSNBC about the email, she didn’t respond and looked utterly confused. Her lawyer had to jump in. That makes me suspicious. I also don’t like that she’s angry that he went public with this and then she goes out and does the same thing. She wants to gain some sympathy points? Don’t take a lawyer like Gloria Allred on national television and claim to be the victim. Just keep your mouth shut and let the other person dig themselves a massive hole.
I believe Rob on this one. I think she is after money. If it was really bad, she should have left. I’ve nanny-ed for years and I know you can always find work elsewhere. This is not to say that this kind of stuff does not happen but there are a lot of holes in her story.

Carrie Jo on April 15th, 2008

I don’t believe that nanny for a second. If she were truly being harassed, she could have dealt with it while still agreeing to keep the information private during the litigation process.

Lesley on April 15th, 2008

I believe her. If she is 24 years old as stated, then she was only 17 when she started working for them, and a girl that age can easily be exploited and not know what to do. She has no reason to come forward at this point if it’s not true, because since he came forward first, he’s obviously not planning on giving her any money. This kind of thing only ends up hurting the woman making the report, like it did in the cases of Kobe Bryant and David Beckham.

Nancy on April 15th, 2008

Give me a break!! How bad could it have been if she left the job several times and CAME BACK? If it were that ‘scary’ she could have just stayed away. Even loving the children is not an excuse for returning to a job several times that is bad enough to sue over. Gloria Allred only made the nanny look worse on the Today Show. The girl couldn’t answer a question on her own, and Gloria glossed over every answer. She continually said how “proud” she was of the nanny for standing up for all the poor harrassed young nannies out there who are too afraid to stand up for themselves. They both just looked foolish.

Hea on April 15th, 2008

Well, I don’t know what to believe. I do know that Rob has had some strange sexual preferences before. I would not be surprised if this turned out to be true. He is her boss and she’s the employee. It’s not like that scenario is uncommon. And per my own experience, I find that many people who have some amount of fame to their name, try to use it for their own gain. A lot of the time it’s about using it to get what you want, and not uncommonly it’s sex.

I do however feel like I don’t care much about this. I just felt like contributing with my two cents.

AKSnowQueen on April 15th, 2008

I LOVE this site, so please don’t take this the wrong way, but I thought one of the new “rules” was that we were only going to post/comment on “Celebrity Babies”. Not that I mind seeing a picture of Rob Lowe, but it seems like this story is about a rumor regarding celebrity parents and a nanny. Is this being posted because this was a nanny to “celebrity (Lowe) babies?”