LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A woman who appeared on a recent episode of MTV’s “The Real World” is suing producers for $5 million, claiming she was given 8 to 10 alcoholic beverages and ridiculed when she refused to have sex with one of the show’s cast members.
The lawsuit, filed by Golzar Amirmotazedi against Viacom, MTV and Bunim/Murray Prods, alleges invasion of privacy, false light, disclosure of private facts and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
According to the complaint, after becoming heavily intoxicated, Amirmotazedi was taken in September to the Real World house off Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. She says that in the early morning hours, she was thrown out of the home by cast members Andrew and Josh after declining to have sex with one of them. Later, she was portrayed on the show as “crazy,” “weird,” a “mess” and a “stalker” with emotional problems. Online commenters called her a “crack whore” and Andrew’s “crazy stalker chick.”
Suing for invasion of privacy used to be commonplace in the unscripted television world, but producers have become very good at crafting strong liability waivers. As with the cases against the makers of the film “Borat,” judges mostly have upheld these waivers, even under exigent circumstances.
In this case, Amirmotazedi claims she was too inebriated to sign a lawful waiver. “Outtakes from the ‘Real World’... show that Plaintiff in fact was not in a position to provide her consent to Defendant portraying her in a false light or disclosing private facts about her,” says the complaint.
MTV did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The case likely will turn on whether producers encouraged Amirmotazedi to drink and whether she had the capacity to enter a contract, similar to the legal analysis in cases involving women going topless in “Girls Gone Wild” videos. The lawsuit was filed in D.C. Superior Court.