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ABC's 'The Bachelor' Spawning More Litigation Than Marriages
You already know about the class action race discrimination lawsuit filed in April 2012 against ABC's The Bachelor, which complains that neither The Bachelor nor The Bachelorette has ever "featured a single person of color." That case was in the news again this week as the defendants indicated in court papers that their upcoming motion to dismiss will be based on the premise that "television casting decisions are protected by the First Amendment."
According to Hollywood, Esq., the plaintiffs' complaint in the case might also be amended to include claims of Title XII employment discrimination laws, "which would open up a legal discussion of the proper way to classify those who star on reality TV shows." The defendants deny that such individuals are employees.
Another case involving The Bachelor was in the news this week, as well. In December 2011, producers of the show sued Stephen Carbone, author of the realitysteve.com website that publishes "spoilers" about shows including The Bachelor. As noted by Hollywood, Esq.,
Carbone was accused of soliciting information from Bachelor participants, cast, crew and other employees of the series and inducing them to breach contracts promising not to divulge nonpublic information. The case raised some interesting issues about the legality of publishing newsworthy information about a secret reality competition.
On Monday of this week, however, Carbone announced on Twitter that the lawsuit has been settled:
Carbone added that "RealitySteve.com isn't going anywhere, I don't owe the other side a penny, and they had no case."
Posted by Bruce Carton on June 5, 2012 at 04:15 PM | Permalink
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