AP Photo/Kim D. JohnsonRob Lowe...Video...Uh-oh.
No, the former West Winger doesn't have a new sex-tape scandal on his hands. Rather, the lawyer representing his former nanny is turning up the heat on the star, demanding videotaped depositions of Lowe and his wife, Sheryl Berkoff, E! News has exclusively learned.
Caught up in a nannygate nightmare, Lowe is accused of sexually harassing his former employee Jessica Gibson. He has denied any wrongdoing and charges Gibson with extortion.
Their dueling lawsuits are due to play out in a courtroom, and the nanny's high-octane lawyer, Gloria Allred, tells E! News she's going to turn the screws during the depo, which she hopes will play out on camera.
"I'm sure some of the questions will make him and wife uncomfortable, but our job is to get to the truth," Allred says in an exclusive interview. "They are going to have to sit down, and we are going to have a lot of tough questions for them."
Allred said their grillings are set for May 19-20 in Santa Barbara, where the Lowes live and the complaints were filed. It is not yet known whether the Lowes will fight the request to have their interrogations taped; stars like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have petitioned judges to keep their depos off camera to avoid having potentially damaging footage leaked to the media.
In any event, Allred said her office has also sent more than 100 requests for the Lowes to produce documents to support his case.
"They are going to have to answer questions under oath," Allred says. "I'm looking forward to sitting eye to eye with the Lowes, because Jessica has nothing to hide."
Allred claims her client tried to work things out amicably with Lowe and Berkoff, but when that failed she was forced to file her lawsuit on April 14, accusing the actor of some sordid behavior, including repeatedly exposing himself to her and inappropriately touching her. (View Gibson's lawsuit.)
Gibson quit the Lowes three times after having been their nanny for more than seven years, says Allred, but went back each time because she loved the kids. Ultimately, the attorney continues, the nanny could not "take it anymore."
"She went back because she hoped things would get better, she needed the job and she loved the children," says Allred.
After Gibson quit for the final time, she went to an attorney and that attorney presented the Lowes with a copy of the lawsuit she intended to file, according to Allred. That prompted Lowe's team to launch a preemptive strike and file their own lawsuit against Gibson for breach of contract and breach of a confidentiality clause. (View the Lowes' lawsuit.)
The couple's suit, filed April 7, claimed Gibson demanded $1.5 million in exchange for not going public with "a vicious laundry list of false terribles."
Writing on the Huffington Post, Lowe presented his side.
"Everyone knows we live in a time where public figures are targets," he said. "But I also know of many people in everyday life who are paying the price of a climate where anyone can accuse anybody of anything, anytime, and hope for a big cash pay-off at the end...No one intimidates my family...We will defend ourselves with vigor and without fear."
Allred suggests the Lowes meant to "take to the airwaves and trash [Gibson's] reputation."
"I know some PR people think that was a smart move, but we are characterizing that as retaliation. Under the law, an employee has the right to assert her claim without being retaliated against by having a lawsuit filed against them."
As for Gibson, Allred says her 24-year-old client is at home and dealing with the public scrutiny as best as she can.
"This a very painful time for her, a difficult and challenging time, but she is trying to hold up as best as she can," Allred tells E! "This a shocking turn of events for her. But she is not going to be intimidated."