Contestant Sues ‘Love Is Blind’ in Lawsuit That Could Change the Reality TV Industry
Love Is Blind season five contestant Renee Poche is suing Netflix and the show’s production company, Delirium TV. Her lawsuit seeks to nullify her contract, and if successful, it could call into question the legality of similar contracts within the reality TV show industry.
Poche is not the first contestant to take legal action against the hit Netflix dating show. Its unusual premise, in which couples are encouraged to propose to one another before ever seeing each other, has delighted audiences seeking drama and romance. However, the show seems to be anything but dreamy and romantic behind the scenes. In 2022, Jeremy Hartwell sued another production company behind Love Is Blind, Kinetic Content, for labor law violations. Hartwell’s lawsuit painted a disturbing picture of what he says contestants experienced on the show, including being plied with alcohol, sleep-deprived, denied food and water, forced to work up to 20 hours a day, and forced to give up all personal belongings.
Last year, another season 5 contestant, Tran Dang, also sued Kinetic Content and Delirium TV, alleging false imprisonment, assault, and negligence. Dang’s lawsuit alleges she was paired with Thomas Smith on the show, who then sexually assaulted and harassed her during filming. Meanwhile, she alleged that the production crew knew of the assault and harassment but did nothing to stop it, with one assistant producer even blaming her for what happened. Unfortunately, Poche’s lawsuit reveals that she had a similar experience while filming season 5.
Renee Poche’s Love Is Blind Lawsuit explained
Poche filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Delirium TV after she made a few remarks warning others about her horrific experiences on Love Is Blind, which led to Delirium suing her for $4 million for allegedly breaching the nondisclosure agreement in her contract. While the company wants $4 million from her, Poche earned just $8,000 for appearing on the show. She’s suing the company to nullify her contract, as well as for emotional distress and violation of labor and civic codes.
Her alleged experiences are very close to what Hartwell and Dang described. Like them, she claims she was stripped of her ID, passport, phone, and money and subsequently locked in her hotel room. She was only permitted to leave when a cast wrangler escorted her to and from production. Meanwhile, during the show, she was forced to pair up with Carter Wall, a contestant who she alleges was violent and “actively addicted to drugs and alcohol” during filming. Poche says she told the crew Wall’s erratic behavior was making her feel unsafe, but she was ignored and forced to move forward with an engagement with him and to spend “long stretches of time alone with him.”
Poche has now enlisted famed Hollywood lawyers Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos to represent her in her case. Freedman and Geragos want to nullify Poche’s contract on the basis that it’s illegal, and they believe that there may be many more illegal contracts out there. Freedman told Variety:
These so-called reality TV contracts are, in reality, illegal. They are designed for an illegal purpose and are void as a matter of law. We have hundreds of clients who are ready to assert their claims.
Geragos revealed that he initially thought some of the contracts he read “were some sort of prank.” These contracts essentially give studios the right to do whatever they want with the certainty that their abuse will be covered up because they can bestow penalties of millions of dollars on anyone who speaks against them. Meanwhile, when these contests are paid less than $10,000 under grueling schedules and unsafe working conditions, very few have the means to fight these companies. But since Poche is already facing a $4 million penalty from Delirium, she has nothing to lose with her legal battle.
Freedman and Geragos hope to render her contract illegal and pave the way for hundreds of other reality contestants to file similar claims. Separate from Poche’s suit, they are also preparing for legal action against NBCUniversal. They have sent the studio a litigation hold notice and accused it of “grotesque and depraved mistreatment of the reality stars and crewmembers on whose accounts its coffers swell.” Freedman and Geragos also note they are representing hundreds of reality stars, many with similar claims to Poche’s of assault and false imprisonment.
From NBC to Netflix to Delirium and Kinetic, many Hollywood studios are facing threats of legal action or multiple lawsuits stemming from their reality shows. For too long, reality stars have been denied similar protections that scripted stars receive, and it’s unknown how many have faced abuse but been silenced by NDAs. With Poche’s case and a potential case against NBCUniversal, though, judgment day might be coming for the reality TV industry.
(featured image: Netflix)
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