Love Is Blind is one of the most popular new reality TV shows, but one of the season two cast really didn’t enjoy his experience during filming.
Jeremy Hartwell has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and the Love Is Blind producers, alleging that the cast was heavily mistreated while filming the show (as per Page Six). His list of complaints includes being deprived of “food, water and sleep”, being cut off from “personal contacts and most of the outside world,” and being “underpaid.”
“This made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making,” Hartwell’s attorney, Chantal Payton of Payton Employment Law, PC, of Los Angeles, allege in a statement.
Hartwell’s lawsuit isn’t just for him, with his legal team stating it’s a “proposed class action on behalf of all participants in Love Is Blind and other non-scripted productions” created by Kinetic Content between 2018 and 2022.
Hartwell claims that the cast’s access to water was “strictly limited” during the day, with the only drinks regularly provided being a mixture of “alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks and mixers.”
That’s not even the most shocking part. The lawsuit also alleges that Love Is Blind contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast” through a “combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged” by the production.
Money is also mentioned. According to the lawsuit, the season two cast members earned $1,000 per week, up to $8,000, while filming, which is allegedly less than minimum wage for the number of hours that they worked.
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“These workers were effectively (paid) as little $7.14 per hour which is less than half of the applicable minimum wage rate of $15.00 per hour, less than one-third of the minimum overtime rate of $22.50 per hour, and less than one-fourth of the minimum double-time rate of $30.00 per hour pursuant to the applicable Los Angeles City and County minimum wage ordinances,” the lawsuit states.
Netflix and Kinetic Content haven’t commented on Hartwell’s lawsuit yet. The reality TV contestant wasn’t successful on Love Is Blind, not making it past the pod phase or getting engaged. Interestingly, his Instagram bio still reads, “@loveisblindnetflix S2 Cast Members.”
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