Jeff Lewis says his 5-year-old threatened not to see him again until she's 'a grown-up' if he keeps talking about her on his radio show

• Jeff Lewis said his daughter threatened not to talk to him again until she's "a grownup."
• Lewis and his ex, Gage Edward, share custody of Monroe after a two-year court battle.

"Flipping Out" star Jeff Lewis revealed on his radio show "Jeff Lewis Live" that his 5-year-old daughter, Monroe, is growing up and feeling the impact of his public-facing celebrity status much sooner than he expected her to. In response, his ex and Monroe's other parent, Gage Edward, is accusing Lewis of "leveraging" their daughter for more attention on his radio show.

In a clip from Lewis' show posted to YouTube on Monday, Lewis recounted an emotional call he said he had with his daughter. "She said if I continue to talk about her on the radio that she will not see me again until she's a grown-up," he said.

According to Lewis, Monroe was responding to the fact that he recently told his listeners that her application to private school was rejected, as reported by People on December 30. Lewis' discussion of Monroe's school rejection came just three days after Lewis had told his listeners, on a December 27 episode, that he threw a COVID-19 "superspreader" holiday party on December 21 with 30 friends and employees where he and multiple guests all contracted breakthrough cases of the virus, per People.

Lewis, who is vaccinated, said in Monday's episode that any connection made by the media between Monroe's school rejection and his "superspreader" party is "simply not true" because she was rejected "before the holiday superspreader."

He added that Edward is "less than thrilled" with the media attention on their daughter. Lewis claims Edward told Monroe that "as a result" of Lewis talking about her on his radio show, she isn't going to get into "certain schools and that she's gonna have to go to a Catholic school with the nuns," who Lewis guessed Monroe had found "kind of scary."

Lewis said that Monroe called him crying and was "mad" and "so upset," telling him, "I don't want to go to Catholic school, I'm afraid of the nuns."

"I texted Gage and I said, 'Look, I never say anything negative about you to Monroe ever and this feels divisive. I would never want to turn her against you, which seems like is what you're doing right now. You're mad at me. Please don't use her to take it out on me," Lewis said on Monday's show.

Edward responded to Lewis' comments via Instagram Story on Tuesday, saying, in part, that the "continued exploitation of a minor for content" is "unfair."

"In the past and certainly recently, untrue and false stories have been told with an embellished narrative about my daughter," Edward continued, suggesting that the "embellishments" are "very calculated" and that Monroe is being "leveraged" for more media attention.

"The person you are leveraging however is 5 years old. It's gross. She has a right to privacy. Enough is enough," he added.

Representatives for Edward, Lewis, and SiriusXM didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Edward and Lewis were together for 10 years before breaking up in 2019, and have since undergone an intense and often contentious custody battle for Monroe that lasted for over two years, ending in May 2021, according to People. Edward and Lewis each dropped lawsuits against each other and currently share custody of their daughter.