Chuvalo “Mark” Ferrell, the former husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Kelli Ferrell, has announced plans to file a lawsuit against Bravo and the Rockdale County Clerk of Court, alleging serious mishandling of his 2022 divorce. Ferrell claims the fallout from the divorce and the “lies” shared on the show “stole his livelihood and his children’s futures.”
Speaking outside the Rockdale County Courthouse on Sept. 2, Ferrell stated he will be suing for defamation, malicious prosecution, and civil rights violations, according to video obtained by Atlanta News First. He believes both the network and the court played roles in events that led to the collapse of his personal and professional life following the split from Kelli, whom he married in 2011.
Ferrell says the divorce proceedings in 2022 were riddled with judicial misconduct and abuse of power. He alleged that despite having documentation proving his co-ownership of Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles, the court accepted Kelli’s claim of sole ownership, ultimately stripping him of his rights to the business, ultimately “stealing” it from him. He claimed that crucial evidence—such as signed agreements, tax filings, and business records—was ignored.
“For three years, I watched my name dragged through the mud, my business stolen, my home taken, my children withheld, and my dignity attacked,” the entrepreneur told reporters.”The truth is simple, what happened to me was not justice, it was abuse of power, the 2022 hearing that changed my life should have never happened.”
Mark continued:
“The court ignored overwhelming evidence that Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles was my business, started with my money and my family recipe. Just one month before the hearing, Kelli signed an operating agreement acknowledging that we were partners. We have her signatures. We have a text sending it back to our business manager. We have Secretary of State filings, EIN numbers, tax documents, everything. She went into court, lied, and claimed she was the sole owner.”
Mark claimed the judge and the county clerk displayed bias in the ruling. He also denied stealing money from the business.
Mark accused the Rockdale County Clerk, Janice Morris, of displaying bias by allegedly celebrating the court’s ruling against him on social media. Furthermore, Ferrell claimed Judge Nancy Bills acted with hostility during the proceedings, denying him legal representation, insulting him in court, ordering unjust jail time, and coercing him into asset transfers, allegedly under threat.
“I was terrified to stand before you, because you showed me again and again that I had no chance of being treated fairly,” Mark said of Judge Bills in his speech.
During their tumultuous divorce, Kelli alleged that Mark stole nearly $500,000 from Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles and had neglected to pay child support. She also said he threatened her life in court—claims she made public during Season 16 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
However, Mark firmly denied those allegations on Tuesday.
“Let me be clear, I never stole money from my business. The funds were from loans and grants that had both been signed to expand Nana’s. When I saw reckless personal spending, I safeguarded the funds as recommendation of our then business partner,” he explained. “Before the June hearing, I had already turned over $320,000 to the joint business account,” he noted, claiming that both he and Kelli signed an operational agreement, acknowledging that they both would not spend company funds reserved for the business expansion on personal items.
By December 2022, he claimed he paid the loan money back, but was wrongly placed in jail for 40 days while Kelli and her attorney claimed that the loan was never repaid.
“The truth is, Kelli doesn’t want [a] resolution. She wants to keep me down,” the restaurantuer added. “Because without that storyline, she loses her platform.”
Mark then called out Bravo.
“And Bravo, your hands are not clean. You gave airtime to lies that you knew could not be sustained. You put my daughters on national TV without my permission. You built a storyline to destroy my name for entertainment. This is defamation. It will not stand.”
He added, “So today, I inform the world I intend to sue every party that’s played a role in this. Those who withheld my children, who stole my money, who illegally held my home, who ran hearings without jurisdiction, and abused their public office. And who profited off lies.”
Mark also shared details of his suit on Instagram on Tuesday, alleging that he was never “properly served” in the divorce case.
“Yet a judge moved forward anyway. I was denied counsel, locked away for 48 days, and while I was in jail, my home was sold out from under me. My personal belongings, family heirlooms, and even the roof over my head were stripped away without due process,” he added in part. “I stayed quiet because I believed the truth would eventually speak for itself. But silence has cost me everything — my business, my home, my name, and time with my children. Today, that silence ends. This is no longer just about me — it’s about justice, due process, and protecting our kids from exploitation.”
Kelli has yet to respond to the lawsuit, but the legal debacle comes just days after she announced the opening of a new Nana’s Chicken-N-Waffles location in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
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