The lonely widow of a “Roblox” inventor claims she got scammed out of an eye-watering $6 million by a predatory male escort in a twist-filled tale of wealth, grief, lust, love – and outrageous abs.
Marianne Flippo, 49, contends icy-eyed, silver-haired gigolo Gregg Starr manipulated her by declaring his love — and telling her the only way they could be together was for her to buy out his $10 million contract with an infamous escort agency, a bombshell new lawsuit alleges.
“I now realize I was foolish,” a mortified Flippo wrote in a Manhattan Supreme Court filing Monday.
Greg Starr and Marianne Flippo, seen here in 2025, met via an online escort service when she sought a companion for her voyage to Il Bel Paese, Italy, to pick up rare medication. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com/Shutterstock
A wild 18-page complaint lays out allegations of desperation, treachery and questionable judgment seemingly ready-made for a “Lifetime” movie – complete with a “Svengali-like” sociopathic villain.
The impressively sculpted and allegedly dastardly Starr, 38, is now accused of embarking on a wild spending frenzy to “dissipate the stolen funds” that Flippo and her lawyer Larry Hutcher hope a judge will stop.
The sad story began two years ago with an unfathomable tragedy — the sudden death of Flippo’s true love, Chad Flippo.
The pair had been “sweethearts” since Marianne Flippo was 13 and had three kids together over their 28-year marriage, court papers revealed.
A computer programmer, Chad Flippo created and patented key software for the mega-successful online game “Roblox” — and amassed a substantial fortune, according to the filing.
“He did very well,” said Flippo’s lawyer Larry Hutcher, who declined to disclose the exact amount.
Starr poses in an Instagram post from November 2021. Flippo now says she “was foolish” for trusting Starr. Instagram/Gregg Starr
But Chad Flippo, who long battled depression, took his own life on Aug. 5, 2024, leaving Marianne shattered and alone, Hutcher said.
The grief-stricken Marianne Flippo’s woes were compounded by her own struggles with vascular Ehler-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder which “makes the body’s connective tissues and organs extremely fragile,” the suit claims.
“Individuals with vascular Ehler-Danlos have an average life expectancy of 48-51 years,” her filing notes. “Marianne is currently 49 years old.”
A few months after Chad Flippo’s untimely death, Marianne needed to travel to Italy to get medication that became rare due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the court papers state.
A nervous Marianne, who couldn’t speak Italian, sought a companion for her voyage to Il Bel Paese – a desire that ultimately brought Starr into her life, according to the filing.
One of her late husband’s friends told her to contact Cowboys 4 Angels, an agency that offers “straight elite male companions for women,” according to its website — and was featured in the Showtime reality TV show “Gigolos.”
The company became notorious as the male escort agency of choice for staffing Sean “Diddy” Combs’ infamous “freak-offs” – depraved, drug-fueled sex parties.
Starr walks the runway during the Emerald Swimwear show at NY Swim Week in July 2024. WireImage
Despite the agency’s name, Flippo contends she didn’t realize it was an escort agency when she hired Starr and ponied up $27,000 for his “assistance,” the suit claims. Starr was not only easy on the eyes, but allegedly fluent in Italian.
The pair spent the trip to Italy chatting – including about Flippo’s fortune – allegedly sleeping in separate rooms as Flippo allegedly rebuffed Starr’s advances, court papers state.
They went their separate ways after the trip, but Flippo claims the agency repeatedly contacted her to say how much Starr missed her, according to papers.
Starr bills himself on LinkedIn as a “Healthcare Private Equity Investor,” listing job experience at various financial firms – leaving any male escort work off his resume entirely.
His risqué, seductive side blossoms on Instagram, where he flaunts his uncannily sculpted abs and equally unnerving gaze in thirsty beefcake poolside pics and runway photo shoots.
The pair started to see each other on and off after the Italy trip, and Starr moved into Flippo’s New York home in December – while convincing her to shell out over $450,000 just to keep him “exclusive,” according to the suit.
(Left to right) Greg Starr, Marianne Flippo, Nelly Mendoza and William McLarnon at a holiday party in 2025. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com/Shutterstock
But the romance novel-esque fairytale allegedly took a turn during a trip to Atlanta early this year, while Flippo was on strong medication following a surgery, the suit contends.
Flippo – whose Ehler-Danlos syndrome gives her symptoms such as chronic pain, blood clots and inflammation “including in my brain, which causes confusion and anxiety – also suffers from “unusually high sensitivity to medication and alcohol,” according to the filing.
She contends Starr and a Cowboys 4 Angels handler plied her with “shots” of alcohol in a Four Seasons hotel room, the lawsuit states.
Blinded by Starr’s silver fox stare and copious booze, a cornered Flippo signed a staggering $10 million “Exit Agreement” to buy the escort out of his contract, the filing alleges.
“Pressured by Starr and (the agency employee), under the influence of multiple prescription medications as well as five alcoholic drinks, suffering from a severe infection, still recovering from surgery, and still emotionally lost due to the loss of her husband, Marianne signed the Exit Agreement despite lacking the capacity to understand its import,” the lawsuit contends.
“Marianne believed Starr loved her and that she could trust him.”
When Flippo tried to wire the $10 million, her bank recalled the transfer over fraud concerns, the suit states.
Starr told The Post much of the $6 million was spent on expenses for the couple and charitable donations. Instagram/Gregg Starr
“While this should have been a wake-up call for me,” Flippo said in a filing, “it was not.”
Eventually, Flippo claims Starr and the other employee convinced her to open a joint account with him, where she transferred $5.95 million, according to the suit.
The alleged scheme fell apart when Flippo tapped Hutcher to hash out the rest of the “Exit Agreement” in June, the filing states.
“I looked at this and said, ‘Not even close. This doesn’t pass any smell test by any stretch of the imagination,” Hutcher said.
The realization allegedly led to a dramatic confrontation during a meeting between Flippo, Hutcher and Starr, in which the lawyer said he didn’t mince words.
“I said to him, ‘You’re nothing more than a common criminal,’” Hutcher recalled.
“It got very intense. He tried to pull Marianne out of there. It was a very intense heated meeting once I said that.”
Starr in a February 2025 Instagram post. Instagram/Gregg Starr
An incensed Starr “threatened to remove and hide the $5.95 million unless Marianne agreed to pay the remaining $4 million,” the suit alleges.
“It was at this point that Marianne finally realized that Starr … had scammed her.”
The suit alleges that Starr has transferred $5.7 million out of the joint account, into a separate one under his sole control.
Starr has been “rapidly spending my money,” Flippo alleged in court documents.
But reached by The Post on Tuesday, Starr claimed that much of the $6 million was spent on expenses for her, the couple and charitable donations – including $1 million to a pair of churches in Midtown and Atlanta.
He said that there was roughly $3 million left and declined to say exactly where the money was or why it was apparently removed from the joint account.
In response to Flippo’s accusations, Starr claimed he was the victim, calling their relationship a “wild f—king ride.”
He contended the relationship was filled with abuse and mistreatment by Flippo, claiming that she often screamed at him, threw phones at him, hit him and even tried to prevent him from leaving the $16 million butler-staffed townhouse he said they shared.
“She would chase me down the street as I tried to run away from her,” he said. “She was also abusive — like sexually. So [when] I tried not to sleep with her, she would scream at me to do it.”
“I wanted to give it a fair shot. I wanted to have financial security. I wanted to leave the agency and actually pursue a relationship because I was in love with her despite all the other things,” he said.
Starr also claimed allegations of coercion were “not true at all,” insisting the “Exit Agreement” was Flippo’s idea and that he didn’t want it in the first place.
“You cannot rewrite an entire relationship simply by filing a lawsuit after it ends,” Starr’s attorney Todd Spodek added in a statement. “The complaint tells a dramatic story; the evidence will tell the actual one.”
Hutcher scoffed at Starr’s assertion that he donated money to churches, or he was victimized by Flippo.
“I would love to see out of the $6 million, how much was charity,” he said, sarcastically.
“I wasn’t there for the relationship but I think that it is clear that this person manipulated Marianne. The idea that this guy was abused or bullied is absolutely absurd.”
The lawyer contended he started the civil lawsuit rather than make a criminal referral to quickly recover the money and preserve the assets. He said criminal courts generally don’t want to be used as a means to collect a debt.
“We started this action first in the hope of getting the money,” he said, adding he’d be happy to assist prosecutors.
“It’s certainly enough if the DA was interested it’d be up to them if they want to pursue charges.”
Cowboys 4 Angels — which didn’t return a request for comment — isn’t listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, although Hutcher noted that could change in the future.
“At this stage, we don’t know what money was paid to them,” he said.
“We’re leaving everything open.”
The civil claim isn’t just about getting back nearly $6 million, Hutcher added – in a contention echoed by Flippo’s court affirmation.
“It is not easy – indeed, it is truly embarrassing – to publicly disclose what happened to me,” she wrote. “But I do so to regain my dignity as well as to shed light on Starr’s egregious conduct and hopefully prevent others from falling prey to this sociopath.”
“If Starr believed that he could retain the proceeds of his illegal scheme and that I would go quietly into the night to avoid unwanted publicity, he is sorely mistaken. I intend to, and will, vigorously enforce my rights to recover the Stolen Funds no matter the personal cost to me. I will not permit Starr to succeed.”