Shannon Storms Beador and her ex-boyfriend John Janssen have reportedly settled the once-$75,000 lawsuit that's been a hot topic of conversation throughout Season 18 of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
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People reported the news on November 19, citing court documents dated November 15.
The development comes after Shannon and Alexis Bellino — who's currently engaged to John — have spent much of RHOC Season 18 clashing over John's decision to sue Shannon.
Most recently, during Part 2 of the reunion (which was taped on Oct. 6), Shannon revealed that John had apparently lowered the suit's ask from $75,000 to $70,000.
"And I agreed because I know my legal costs will be more than $70,000 — and that's a really hard thing for me to do — but I said I would give him the $70,000," Shannon explained. "[But] he wouldn't sign a mutual non-disparage agreement."
As a result, at the time, she was "still waiting to hear John's response" with regard to the lawsuit.
Why did John Janssen sue Shannon?
John sued Shannon over money he allegedly gave her for a facelift when they were dating. Filed in March 2024, the lawsuit specifically accused Shannon of breach of oral contract and promissory fraud, among other matters, and claimed she owed him $75,000.
Shannon reacted to the suit in a statement issued to People at the time.
"My attorney has been in constant communication with his counsel. I agreed to pay John what he wanted because I knew that attorneys fees would surpass the amount sought, but more importantly to eliminate the negative emotional components that come with a lawsuit," Shannon said. "It is important that I continue to focus on the positive aspects of my life and move forward. John declined the offer because he refused to sign a mutual non-disparagement agreement. I was hoping that if I met his baseless demand we could at least use this as an opportunity to bring complete closure to this chapter in my life."
An attorney for John also issued a statement to the publication, which read, “Ms. Beador’s defense that Mr. Janssen paid her the $75,000 as a ‘gift’ is completely meritless, which their e-mails and text messages will show. Mr. Janssen is saddened that Ms. Beador’s unwillingness to repay the loans made it necessary to file this lawsuit.”
Alexis Bellino defended John Janssen's lawsuit at the RHOC Season 18 reunion
Alexis has been steadfast in her defense of John throughout RHOC Season 18, and during Part 2 of the reunion, she set out to share his "truth" amid the legal battle involving Shannon.
"Honest to God, I don't want to fight. And I just want to go out and speak the truth," Alexis said while chatting with Tamra Judge backstage at the reunion on the Nov. 14 episode. "I'm not gonna bring him up. But they're going to continue with the lies, and I'm going to have to defend him because he doesn't have a voice. Shannon has had a voice for four years and he's kept quiet. The truth has not been out there. Nope, the truth has not been out there. The truth has not been shown."
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Once Alexis joined the group at the reunion, she and Shannon proceeded to argue over the lawsuit. "You gotta go back to your emails and check the truth because you have a really strange relationship with the truth," Alexis said.
Shannon then shared the aforementioned update about the lawsuit being lowered to $70,000.
However, in a preview for Part 3 of the RHOC Season 18 reunion, Alexis makes another big claim.
Alexis Bellino alleged that John Janssen spent $350,000 on Shannon when they dated
Doubling down on her assertion that Shannon "did not pay for everything" in her relationship with John, Alexis says in the above reunion preview that she and John "did forensic accounting."
"We have the numbers," she adds. "John spent $350,000 on the relationship before he even paid the $75,000 loan."
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"Then why didn't he sue her for more if he wants that much?" reunion host Andy Cohen asks.
"He only wants the loan back," Alexis replies. "He's not gonna [go] tit for tat for what he bought."
Shannon disagrees with Alexis' assertion, and the two go back and forth from there. See how it all shakes out by tuning in to the new episode of RHOC on Nov. 21.
