Photo: instagram
This is pretty messy.
By Micki Spollen — Written on Oct 31, 2019
Who is Nick Loeb? Sofia Vergara’s ex is making headlines with a custody battle over their two frozen embryos. These days, Vergara is married to Joe Manganiello. The two wed in November 2015 after getting engaged just six months from the time they started dating — and only about a year and a half after Vergara and ex-fiancé Loeb officially called it quits.
“I knew Joe through people and we had done benefits together, and I knew Sofia from working with her, and we were at a party together and I just introduced them,” Jesse Tyler Ferguson told James Corden about how Vergara and Manganiello met. “And then when she broke up with her fiancé at the time, [Nick Loeb], Joe – like immediately, the moment it was out in the world – called me and was like: ‘I need her number.’”
And while Vergara and Manganiello have moved on with their lives and marriage, it appears Vergara’s ex is stuck in the past. Since their breakup, Loeb has kept his connection to Vergara alive since 2014 through a nasty legal battle concerning two frozen embryos the couple created together, but only Loeb wants.
Here’s what we know about Sofia Vergara’s ex Nick Loeb.
1. He has a tragic family background
When you think of the term “socialite” you probably picture someone like Paris Hilton, but the term applies to men too! According to Page Six, Loeb is part of the Loeb and Lehman banking families.
Despite an affluent upbringing, Loeb’s home life wasn’t really all the great. To start, he wrote in a New York Times op-ed that his father was largely absent from his life. “My father, whom l love, worked as a financier, philanthropist and diplomat. He was not around much, as work and travel left little time for parenting.” To top it off, he revealed his mother “virtually disappeared” from his life after divorcing his father.
In 1996, when Loeb was 20 years old, his mother shot and killed her third husband and then herself. “It was the last thing I’d expected her to do,” Loeb told the New York Post in 1999. “We were very close when that happened, closer than we’d been for a while. I thought things were getting better for her.”
2. Loeb isn’t known for being a great person
Those who know Loeb apparently don’t like him all that much. One source described Loeb as “very arrogant,” telling Page Six, “Nick doesn’t like to be told no. He was always egocentric, arrogant and self-centered.”
The source explained that Loeb often uses his money to get his way and create an inner circle for himself. “He had the money to help make himself famous but was always a little bit sad,” the source said. “He’d take everybody out and pay for everything. He was kind of a showoff — a rich kid with no real friends but he liked attention.”
3. Vergara and Loeb broke up in 2014
Vergara and Loeb officially broke up in 2014 after four years of dating and a two-year engagement. “Not that anyone should care, but in order to not give the press the chance to invent crazy and hurtful drama, I prefer to tell my fans personally that Nick and I have [decided] to be apart,” Vergara announced after the breakup. “We have [been] having too many problems with figuring out how to spend time together and [because] of my work and now his, its been getting worse and worse, not fun anymore.”
According to sources, their breakup was a long time coming. “Nick and Sofia were always on rocky grounds, especially in the last year or so,” a source explained to People. “It has been worse since she has become a real superstar and is so busy and in demand everywhere. It’s hard for them to have a normal relationship, much less spend enough time together.”
4. Loeb is suing Vergara for their frozen embryos
Before breaking up, Loeb and Vergara were working to start a family. “When we got engaged, in 2012, I began to push for children,” Loeb wrote for the New York Times. Vergara reportedly wanted to use a surrogate, so she and Loeb created embryos. According to Loeb, the then-couple “signed a form stating that any embryos created through the process could be brought to term only with both parties’ consent.” However, Loeb wrote that the form did not specify what would happen in the event of a breakup.
In 2015, Loeb filed a lawsuit seeking “to save from destruction two cryopreserved Female Embryos created using John’s [Loeb’s] sperm and Jane’s [Vergara’s] ova for the purposes of attempting to have children.” The case has gone back and forth since then.
“I don’t like promoting my private life,” Vergara told ABC News in 2015 about the situation. “I don’t understand why this person...I don’t want to allow this person to take more advantage of my career and try to promote himself.”
5. Vergara and Loeb may not have had a healthy relationship
After Vergara and Loeb broke up in 2014, sources claimed that their relationship was never very stable. “It was never a good match,” one source told People, explaining that the two broke up and got back together “over a million times” throughout their 4-year relationship.
In fact, multiple reports suggest that their relationship was rather unhealthy. One source called Loeb “overbearing” and “smothering,” and called his attempts to start a family with Vergara “very persistent almost to the point of annoying.”
In 2015, Loeb accused Vergara of physically and verbally abusing him. Radar published court documents in which Loeb claimed Vergara “physically abused him on four separate occasions: she punched him in the face on two occasions, kicked him, and threw her phone at his head.” Furthermore, the documents claim the actress “routinely bullied him, calling him a ‘loser,’ ‘worthless,’ and other degrading names.”
According to Radar, a source reportedly close to Vergara denied these claims. “Sofia never got physical with Nick, it just didn’t happen. Did they fight? Yes, and a lot, which is why they broke up,” the source said. “But to portray it as Sofia being mentally abusive towards Nick is reckless, and just not true.”
In a 2014 letter, Loeb called Vergara “classless” for speaking Spanish, her first language. “What I do not like and what I will not put up with anymore is the Spanish, and no I do not like hanging out with you when you speak in Spanish with others at the table,” Loeb reportedly wrote. “Not only is it rude and disrespectful, it is classless. And for you to then berate, embarrass and humiliate me in front of others when I ask you to stop is not happening anymore.”
6. Is Loeb trying to “destroy” Vergara’s marriage to Manganiello?
According to TMZ, Loeb’s endgame is just to “destroy” Vergara’s current relationship. Sources told TMZ that Loeb doesn’t actually care about becoming a father to the former couple’s embryo’s, but simply wants revenge on Vergara. According to the sources, Loeb has already become a father to another woman’s baby in October 2017.
7. Case dismissed...for now
Page Six reported this week that Nick Loeb's bid to retain the frozen embryos was dismissed in Louisiana. Yes, Louisiana. Loeb "moved" to the states in the hopes that the more conservative nature there would help him win the case. He was looking for Louisiana to recognize the unborn embryos' rights. The case was dismissed "with prejudice." The judge found that while Loeb had two residences in New Orleans, he never spent a single night in either and the utilities were cut off due to nonpayment. Neighbors reported never seeing Loeb at either of the two apartments. Additionally, he arrived in Louisiana the day before the court proceedings. He came from New York. He stated at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, not at either of his local addresses. The judge also pointed out that his daughter was born in New York and lives in Barcelona with her mother. Loeb maintains a $400,000 yacht in Barcelona. Loeb also does not have a bank account or business in Louisiana to justify his claims there. Reportedly, Loeb plans on appealing. His lawyer issued the following statement to Page Six: "We will be appealing the court’s decision” He went on to say that the embryos “are human beings with every right to their lives and every right to be born.”
Micki Spollen is a YourTango editor and entertainment news writer. She also runs the travel blog Where In The World Is My Drink.