Brett Blundy exercised an option to buy out a Honey Birdette founder because her "toxic" relationship with her co-founder was damaging the lingerie chain, not because he'd engineered her shares to be cheap at the time, the retail Rich Lister has told a court.

Janelle Barboza is suing Mr Blundy, his vehicle BBRC International which owns 61.8 per cent of Honey Birdette, the lingerie chain's former direct owner Bras N Things (which Mr Blundy sold to US giant Hanes Brands for $500 million in 2018) and Honey Birdette itself for $1,055,199 in the Queensland Supreme Court.