An Ex “Love Is Blind” Contestant Has Filed A Shocking Lawsuit Against Netflix Alleging “Inhumane Working Conditions” — Here’s A Breakdown Of The Details
The suit accuses the “Love is Blind” production team of allegedly encouraging contestants to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, restricting their food and water intake, and more.
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Ex-Love Is Blind contestant Stephen Richardson has filed a class-action lawsuit against Netflix, alleging that he and other cast members shot the show in “unsafe and inhumane working conditions.”
As you might recall, Stephen appeared on Season 7 of the Netflix dating series. He was briefly engaged to Monica Davis, though they parted ways and left the show after she discovered that he’d secretly texted a mystery woman about his sexual kinks.
Now, Stephen has accused the LIB team of alleged labor violations. The legal filing, which has been viewed by Entertainment Weekly, names Netflix as a defendant, as well as production companies Kinetic Content and Delirium TV.
The suit alleges that LIB cast members were subjected to unpaid wages, arguing that they should’ve been classified as “employees” and not “contestants” or “participants.”
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The filing also claims that producers maintained “excessive control over virtually every aspect of the lives of their shows’ cast, including exerting complete domination over their time, schedule, and their ability to eat, drink, and sleep, and communicate with the outside world during the period of employment.” The suit argues that this makes contestants eligible for protections under California labor law, which in turn grants them rights to minimum wages and overtime pay.
The suit further alleges that production directed staff not to provide the contestants with food while they resided at a hotel during filming, and that the cast members were encouraged to get intoxicated. It claims that “alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks, and mixers” were always provided, while water and other “hydrating drinks” were “limited” during the day. The suit claims that this was done “in order to maintain a heightened degree of control and direct the conduct of the Cast into making manipulated decisions for the benefit of the show’s entertainment value.”
Stephen is seeking compensation for lost wages for himself and other contestants who starred in Seasons 6, 7, 8, and 9 of LIB, as well as seeking coverage of legal fees and other damages.
Not long after Stephen’s lawsuit was filed, fellow Season 7 contestant Marissa George fired back.
Marissa, who was briefly engaged to Ramses Prashad on the show, spoke out against Stephen’s allegations in two candid videos. “While I’ve always gotten along with Stephen, I do not agree with this lawsuit whatsoever,” she stated as she explained why she wouldn’t be joining the class-action suit.
“He’s claiming that we were restricted from having adequate food, water, and our phones. Yes, we were restricted from our phones. That is true. That is part of the experiment. Duh,” Marissa said.
Marissa went on to deny the allegations that cast members were “restricted from food and water,” calling them “categorically false” while instead claiming that there were “copious amounts of food.” She claimed, “Once you were outside the pods, if you were in your hotel room, you always got your food. There were some frustration on it getting to us fast enough, but you definitely got your food…In fact, when I was in my hotel room, when I was still hungry, so I asked production to bring me Taco Bell, and guess what? They did.”
As for the allegation about alcohol, Marissa claimed, “I can say this for the women’s lounge at the minimum, because I don’t know what was happening in the men’s lounge. Never once did I hear from anyone in the production period that we had to drink alcohol.”
Marissa also addressed the filming schedule of LIB contestants, claiming that they were welcome to take naps between dates and given the choice of whether or not they participated in “night filming” after shooting all day. “We were not restricted to the point that we couldn’t close our eyes,” she said.
BuzzFeed has reached out to Netflix and Kinetic Content for comment. Delirium TV could not be reached. We’ll keep you posted if and when more unfolds.