Reality TV or Court TV? Lawsuits Test Limits of Outrageous Behavior

Tran Dang sued the makers of the Netflix dating series “Love Is Blind” over allegations of “false imprisonment,” saying it confined her and the rest of the cast to hotel rooms without their phones. She also accused a fellow cast member of groping her and exposing himself.

Bravo’s “Real Housewives” universe has inspired a string of lawsuits, as the drama and battles have moved from TV screens to social media to tabloids to court dockets. Caroline Manzo, who had signed on to appear in a spinoff, accused the companies behind the show of failing to intervene when a co-star forcibly groped and kissed her during filming, and charged that they “regularly ply the Real Housewives cast with alcohol, cause them to become severely intoxicated” and then encourage or allow them to “sexually harass other cast members because that is good for ratings.”

And Faith Stowers, a former member of the cast of “Vanderpump Rules,” a spinoff of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” sued the companies behind the show, claiming that after she had reported instances of racism, harassment and another cast member brandishing a knife at her, the show had retaliated against her by making her role unpaid.

Reality TV is fueled by on-camera insults, extreme drunkenness, aggressive sexual behavior and physical confrontations that would instantly spark human resources complaints or lawsuits in most workplaces. The industry has long shielded itself from litigation with tightly written contracts laden with nondisclosure agreements and provisions requiring closed-door arbitration proceedings to settle any disputes.

But that could be changing. The #MeToo-era has opened new legal avenues: A 2022 federal law gives an employee who makes allegations of sexual assault or harassment the right to resolve disputes through the courts even if their contract calls for arbitration. And last year’s Hollywood strikes prompted new calls for reality stars to unionize, or at least be paid more. High-profile lawyers taking on the industry in court speak of a “reckoning.”

“In some cases, the behavior that is being targeted seems like the bread and butter of reality TV,” said Danielle Lindemann, a sociologist who wrote the book “True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us.”