Andrew H. Walker/Getty.Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty
Million Dollar Listing: New Yorkalum Luis D. Ortiz is speaking out after Nikita Singh, the mother of his two-year-old daughter, Leela Daniel Singh-Ortiz, accused him of domestic abuse last week.
The former real estate agent and co-host of Netflix’sThe World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, 34,spoke toGood Day NY’s Rosanna Scottoon Tuesday morning insisting that Singh’s accusations are false, and that “everything that has been put online is completely untrue.”
Last week, Singh created a GoFundMe campaign called “Justice for Nikita & Leela legal bills,” in which she states that she is hoping to raise 100,000 GBP (approximately $139,456 USD) in order to pay for legal fees associated with keeping her and her daughter in the U.K., away from Ortiz.
Luis D. Ortiz/YouTube
Singh continues: “I am afraid of him and his sphere of powerful allies. He made the choice not to be present in his child’s life. I am fearful of him and his form of abusive control over me and my daughter Leela.”
Singh says that Ortiz has demanded she return to the U.S. and that she has requested assistance from the U.K. government, noting, “I do fear for our safety if I return.”
She also claims that she has learned through mutual friends that “Luis and his family are having us watched and followed.”
She claims that she has “not stopped Luis from seeing his child” and that her lawyer has made it clear that [Luis] is welcome to visit her. Creating this fundraiser, she says, is her way to both bring awareness to her situation and to ask for financial assistance from the public.
“I love my family and I’ve always been a family man, and I will continue to do what I have to do, but on my own personal time and in my privacy,” he continued, stating that he does not want to talk about his daughter and personal life publicly.
“The reason I haven’t responded [to Singh’s accusations] is, number one, I don’t have to. Number two, this is the private life of my daughter. And number three, this is something that we have to do on our own,” he continued. “This is my family and regardless of people wanting to know something about it, everybody has their own story and I think that always should stay between the people in it, regardless of celebrity and regardless of you being known.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Singh’s GoFundMe had raised 1,181 GBP from 34 donors, and she had shared receipts of herself sending the money to her lawyers.
In August 2019, Ortiz shocked fans whenhe shared on an episode ofMDLNYthat he was going to become a dad. Ortiz, who has beenopen with his mental health struggles in the past, announcedthathewasleaving the Bravo series in 2016, but returned back frequently for guest appearances. He conducted Tuesday’s interview from Mexico.
In September 2019, he shared a photo of then six-month-old Leela to Instagram for the first time, writing “This is my daughter. She was born on March 8, 2019, in New York City and ever since then, everything has become incredibly purposeful.”
He has since seemingly deleted all posts from before May 19, 2021 from his Instagram, which now has only seven posts, all promoting his new Netflix series.
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The new father also previously posted a YouTube video, in which he opened up about what fatherhood had meant to him so far.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Ortiz said in the video, which also showed footage of his daughter’s birth at Mount Sinai Hospital. “Remember when I told you I wasn’t ready for any of this? … I realize it doesn’t matter how prepared you are to being a father, you are never ready until the moment is there. And that in a way, is very poetic and very beautiful.”
source: people.com
