The Shady Truth About 90 Day Fiance's Big Ed
90 Day Fiance's Big Ed — real name Ed Brown — became a big topic among TLC viewers for his quest to find love with Rosemarie Vega (aka Rose), a woman from the Philippines who is 31 years his junior. Although Ed repeatedly mentioned how eager he was to win Rose's heart, his actions during his visit to the country suggested otherwise. Not only did the California native bring up Rose's supposed bad breath, but he also criticized her unshaved legs. Ouch. The icing on the cake? He left early during a visit with Rose's family and didn't take the opportunity to bond with her beloved son, Prince.
Although these slights were bad enough, Rose received another blow when Ed confessed he doesn't want more kids. The admission broke Rose's heart, as she had openly expressed her desire to have more children.
Many fans sided with Rose in her breakup from Ed, criticizing him for what they perceived as shady behavior. Since then, more questionable info about his life has been uncovered.
Big Ed was accused of sexual assault
A woman known on social media as Lordakeet — real name Lorelei Clemens — accused Ed Brown of sexually assaulting her when she interned at his workplace. Clemens addressed her claims during a May 2020 interview with Daily Soap Dish, alleging that a lot of the harassment "was verbal, through texts and in the office." The San Diego resident also addressed her allegations in a series of TikTok videos, stating about Ed's appearance on 90 Day Fiance, "The moment of finding out the guy who sexually harassed me for 9 months has moved on to his next victim..."
Clemens, who shared pictures of her and Ed with Daily Soap Dish, alleged, "He was grooming me, and you know when you're being groomed, it's really hard to know you're being manipulated. So, it progressively got worse. By the end of it, I ended up in the hospital from an incident that happened with him, and I ended up having a lot of health issues from it. This was about four years ago, so I've been still trying to heal myself since that incident."
She added, "I think Ed kind of has this MO for going for vulnerable, younger women. At the time I was 24, about the age of Rosemarie Vega, and at the age where you're really trying to figure out what is going on in the world and you're not quite sure how to handle situations like this."
Why Lorelei Clemens decided to come forward
Lorelei Clemens noted that she signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with a third party regarding her sexual assault allegations against Ed Brown, so there's a limited amount of information she can discuss with the public. However, Clemens is doing all she can to raise awareness about her concerns in hopes of helping others. "I took a couple of months to kind of meditate and really figure out if I wanted to take that step forward," Clemens told Daily Soap Dish. "With that being said, I really felt that it was important that I come forward even if there was a lot of backlash from people." She continued, "I'm just here to set an example for other victims that even if they feel like they can't come forward there's always the option. They have the power; they don't have to feel like someone owns their words or their story."
As of this writing, Ed hasn't addressed Clemens' allegations against him.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources.
Rosemarie accused Big Ed of chasing fame
Ed Brown and Rosemarie Vega didn't see eye-to-eye during their time together in the Philippines, with the two splitting up by the end of their vacation. "I'm disappointed because you always embarrassed me," Rose told Big Ed during their final scene together. "I think [you] don't love me. I'm done." She added, "I think you [do] not love my son, I think you [do] not give time and effort to my son."
Rose's bad feelings about her ex haven't gone away since filming, as evidenced by a video she made in April 2020 that was reposted by blogger John Yates. "Please people don't believe him. It's fake. He [doesn't] really care [about] me," she complained, per In Touch Weekly. "He just [wants to be] famous that's why he doing that. He did not even give me a penny. [It's] all lies. He did not give me any gifts except bra and panty [sic] and the word that came out mouth is [a] lie."
As for Big Ed, he took to Instagram in May 2020 to tell fans that he's "really happy" post-breakup.