This may explain why all of your favorite reality stars are lunatics.
As first reported by TMZ, former and current reality TV stars have filed a lawsuit against networks NBC and Bravo (both owned and operated by NBCUniversal) for alleged abuse. In a letter sent to NBCU from attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos, reality stars claim to have had their physical, mental, and sexual health exploited by their respective TV shows.
Though the letter does emphasize that the investigation remains ongoing, the initial claims seem extremely serious. According to the letter, the alleged victims accuse NBCU of several instances of mistreatment. I have listed their grievances verbatim below.
- Deliberate attempts to manufacture mental instability by plying cast members with alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep.
- Denying mental health treatment to cast members displaying obvious and alarming signs of mental deterioration.
- Exploiting minors for uncompensated and sometimes long-term appearances on NBC reality TV shows.
- Distributing and/or condoning the distribution of nonconsensual pornography.
- Covering up acts of sexual violence.
- Refusing to allow cast members the freedom to leave their shows, even under dire circumstances.
Due to the continuous investigation, no specific details were outlined in the letter. However, the statement does list out all punishable offenses which include “intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, distribution of revenge porn, and false imprisonment.”
Personally, I don’t understand how law works, but it seems the attorneys needed to be as vague as possible. I assume that’s standard. However, due to the lack of specificity in the document, it remains unclear which reality stars led the charge on these accusations as well as which shows the mistreatment took place on.
As for the alleged charges, this is some pretty serious stuff. In layman’s terms, it sounds like showrunners purposefully fed their stars nothing but alcohol, drained them of sleep, provoked them to perform sexual acts (distributing some without permission), and threatened to ruin the lives of anyone who spoke out. All of that said, I am still confused by the “revenge porn” and “false imprisonment” claims. I’m confident they have merit, I just personally don’t know what that entails in this circumstance.
If you want to read the entire document for yourself, click here.
I’m sure this will develop into a major story over the course of the next few weeks. Between writers, actors, and now reality stars it truly seems like everyone hates NBC’s guts.
