Category: contracts

contracts, Television, Torts

Woman sues VH1 for showing her Naked on…a dating show where people get naked.

In yet another example of why we think people are idiots, a woman who appeared on the VH1 reality series, Dating Naked, filed a $10 million lawsuit against VH1 and its corporate parents, after the show aired a scene in which she was naked on Dating Naked. Now of course you might be thinking, “Hey, what did she expect?”, in which case, you do not know much about the “bait and switch” of television and you underestimate the intelligence of people who want to be on TV so badly, they agree  to be seen naked by the multitudes or at least a stranger and film crew.

According to the plaintiff, Jessie Nizewitz, an aired episode featured a scene where she and her date wrestled naked on a beach and there was a short non-digitized view of her non-bedazzled va-jay-jay. For some reason, she believed that wrestling naked in front of cameras was not going  a problem because show’s producers promised her that all nudity would be censored or shown in a “dignified way”. According to the complaint the producers agreed to broadcast only her blurred vagina and anus on all showings. If that is so, we may have a breach of contract suit, though the very brief shot (which I have not seen) may indicate an unintentional lack of editing. Or it could have been very intentional. Broken promises are nothing new in Hollywood.

But where this gets really interesting is that our plaintiff, a 28 year old model who agreed to get naked with a stranger for a TV show, is claiming mental anguish, humiliation and embarrassment. She argues that once the show aired she immediately received text messages from friends and family. One message read, “So your money shot is on cable TV”. This, of course, is horrible. It means a 28 year old woman has a friend or family member who does not know what a money shot is.

Besides that tragic realization, plaintiff also claims that she was further harassed on social media. Apparently, people who watched the show to see naked people, told one of those naked people, that they saw her naked. According to the complaint, the incident was so shocking to the gentleman she was dating that he never called her back once the show aired. This is, of course a triple whammy as she describes the man as “employed, Jewish, in his 30s and that’s pretty much ideal”. Wherever will she find another employed, Jewish man in his 30s who is ok with his new leading lady being naked and wrestling on the beach with some other guy, but won’t be traumatized by seeing her vagina or anus for a split second on TV? I do not know, ladies and gentlemen, and it is too distressing to contemplate.

By the way, did I mention plaintiff is a model? Not to disparage models, but nobody becomes a model because they dislike being looked at. (Or do they? Models feel free to contact me and let me know. Do NOT send pictures, I will take your word for it). And here we have someone who decided to get more exposure and is now allegedly distressed that she got a few inches more than she wanted. This may actually become an interesting case because we could have liability for the breach of contract with very low damages and no liability on the mental anguish torts. At first blush, I like the odds for the Defense.

But, it is early and a long way to go before we get to the naked truth.

Read about it here

Assault and Battery, contracts, criminal law, Torts

(The Legal aspects of the Mr. R Angle Part III)

Welcome back. On the road today in Newport Beach for the Solo and Small Firm Summit. I always enjoy these opportunities to learn more ways to better my craft and my business. To tie it into wrestling, it is like those young wrestlers who take the time and spend the money to attend seminars by well regarded and well-traveled wrestling veterans when they can. We will have more on what we have picked up here in a later post. Let us finish off the Ted-Dibiase Mr. R issue today. In Part I, we took a look at the backstory and contract between Ted Dibiase and the not-too-mysterious Mr. R. In Part I we also examined what forms a contract and what kind of contract was formed between Dibiase and Mr. R. In Part II, we took a look at some of the problems in contracting with a masked man. Today, we finish off by looking at what Dibiase’s attorney might have argued on his behalf to negate the title change and what legal theories could be used to combat that position. Continue reading “(The Legal aspects of the Mr. R Angle Part III)” →

contracts, personal injury, promoter liability, Torts, waivers

Quick thoughts and how waivers used by promoters are not nearly as good as they think they are.

Greetings from Las Vegas, NV. On the road for what has turned into a working vacation, as they all are at some point. Before, we get to today’s topic we want to touch upon a few quick points.

  • Very saddened to hear about the death of Tony Gwynn. An amazing baseball player who mastered the art of hitting. More importantly, a classy man. One of the pride of Long Beach Poly in both on-field and off the field accomplishments. A shining example to others who became “Mr. Padre” and in many ways, “Mr. San Diego”. He will be missed.
  • I want to thank those of you have given us feedback on this blog. I hope this continues because, like working a match, interaction with the audience is key. Some of you are already asking for topics that I think will be very interesting and challenging.

With that said, let us take on today’s topic. We take a break from the Ted Dibiase-Mr.R angle to take a quick look at waivers. Anyone who has worked a show has probably been asked to sign a liability waiver. These waivers, often pulled from some website and having not been reviewed by a lawyer in years, supposedly relieve the promoter (and often the venue) of any liability should something go wrong. I can not tell you how many times I have seen promoters be insistent on getting these signed and I often sign them without reservation. Of course, after becoming a lawyer I had no problem signing them because I knew they were not worth much and under the right circumstances, I could still get money if something went wrong.

 

Continue reading “Quick thoughts and how waivers used by promoters are not nearly as good as they think they are.” →