Fixer Upper’s Chip & Joanna UNDER ATTACK

Chip Gaines’ response to the controversy over his pastor’s antigay stance angers fans and critics

Chip Gaines was finally breaking his silence. A month after controversy erupted when it was revealed that the star of HGTV’S hit show Fixer Upper and his wife, Joanna, 38, were devoted members of the Antioch Community Church — a nondenominational evangelical megachurch in Waco, Texas, whose pastor, Jimmy Seibert, preaches that “homosexuality is a sin” and vocally opposes gay marriage — Chip, 42, took to his blog. In a Jan. 2 post titled “Chip’s New Year’s Revelation” that was dripping with positivity, the home renovator vowed to “engage people who are different from us with dignity and love” and “change the conversation.”

Instead, his failure to take a stance just sparked a new scandal. While Chip initially was praised for sending a message of love, fans and critics alike soon started voicing their frustration that he won’t just come out and clarify his and Joanna’s position. “We as viewers have a right to know...i am disappointed,” wrote an online commenter named Katie (see box, above). The issue is simple, Carmen Saenz, chairman for Interwaco’s LGBTQ community group in central Texas, tells In Touch: “You either are for marriage equality and transgender rights or you’re not.” And even some close to Joanna and Chip “are waiting for them to make their viewpoint crystal clear,” a source close to Chip tells In Touch, “so there’s no confusion.”

Chip has explained that he and Joanna “refuse to be baited” into sharing their private beliefs. But the source close to Chip points out that after the controversy erupted, “the Gaineses showed up to their Antioch Church. If they didn’t believe what the pastor said to be true, they’d leave or wouldn’t be going there.” Two of their friends, David and Jason Benham (evangelical Christian brothers whose HGTV show, Flip It Forward, was scrapped in 2014 after they spoke out about their beliefs), also claimed in December that Chip reached out to them to show his support. “The Gaineses believe as we do — as millions [of] other Christians do — that marriage is between a man and a woman,” said Jason. The source adds that Chip was “fired up about the agenda of silencing Christians.”

Still, Chip chose not to clarify his position publicly. And fans have started to guess that it’s because the pair don’t want to risk alienating anyone on either side of the issue as they build their empire, which includes a newly launched magazine; furniture, rug, paint and wallpaper collaborations; and even a kids’ clothing line. “The fact that they will not say flatly what they believe speaks volumes,” wrote online commenter Katie. Another, named Mike, noted that if Chip “wants to live bravely and boldly [ like he says], then admit your convictions. Otherwise his post is a carefully crafted spin to keep his ratings up.” Nearly 3.5 million viewers tuned in for the season four premiere in November, but HGTV, which has said it’s “proud” of its record of not discriminating but also refuses to comment on the “personal lives” of hosts, could see those numbers decline if the Gaineses don’t clearly denounce their church’s antigay beliefs.

In his post, Chip talks about being willing “to roll up your sleeves and work alongside the very people that are most unlike you.” Some locals believe it would go a long way if Chip and Joanna featured a gay couple on their show like HGTV staples House Hunters and Property Brothers have done. “There are many same-sex families in Waco they can easily do a show on,” Carmen tells In Touch. “It’s not like they’re not here.” ◼

His hospitalization was the final straw. After Rob Kardashian checked into a hospital near his Hidden Hills, Calif., home on Dec. 28 to seek help for symptoms related to his diabetes battle, his family decided they couldn’t waste any more time. “They believe his fiancée, Blac Chyna, has been psychologically abusive to Rob,” a source tells In Touch exclusively, adding that they blame Chyna for causing Rob’s dangerous food and drug issues to resurface and his depression struggle to worsen. “At first they thought she was a positive influence, but they now believe she is killing him. So after Rob’s emergency trip to the hospital, his family hatched a plan to get rid of Chyna once and for all.”

Their goal is to expose her. “They have discovered so many negative things about Chyna, including information that make them think that she’s cheated on Rob,” says the source. Chyna has denied rumors of cheating. Momager Kris Jenner has even utilized private investigators to dig up dirt on the former stripper, 28, that they can show Rob, 29. “The family is writing everything down and will present it to him. They will sit him down for an intervention and place an envelope containing all the proof of what she has done on the table in front of him.” There are even plans to have a therapist there, adds the source: “They want to have a psychologist on hand so they can discuss how Chyna abuses him.”

The family wants the moment of truth filmed, too. “They want cameras there so the whole world can see Chyna get what’s coming to her,” says the source. “They also know it’ll bring in big ratings for Keeping Up With the Kardashians, of course.”

But Chyna won’t go quietly. Barely two months after giving birth to Rob’s daughter, Dream, Chyna wants baby No. 2. “She’s told friends she’s always planned to have two Kardashian babies,” explains an insider. “She and Rob break up, move out, get back together and have amazing make-up sex. Chyna could easily be pregnant again already.” Rob, meanwhile, has a plan of his own, as he seeks to prove he’s not the “lazy and fat” slob Chyna previously branded him. “He’s now considering trying his hand in the medical marijuana industry and opening a shop since pot has been legalized in California,” explains a Rob source. “And he wants to include Chyna in his endeavor.”

That will infuriate the Kardashians even more. “Bottom line: They do not trust Chyna’s motives,” says the insider. And they don’t want a woman they believe is a gold digger among their ranks. “They love Dream, but they feel that overall Rob is worse off now than before he and Chyna met,” adds the source. “She is hurting him, and the Kardashians just want it to stop.” ◼

Chyna thinks she can outsmart the Kardashians, but she can’t” — A SOURCE