Some days it seems like Netflix‘s Love Is Blind is as big a banger with lawyers as it is with streaming audiences.
In yet another legal action against the BTS shanaghans and alleged manipulations on the Kinetic Content and Delirium TV produced LIS, Season 7 contestant Stephen Richardson is taking the streamer and almost everyone else involved with several seasons of the American production of the self-described social experiment reality TV series for a plethora of labor violations and excess.
In fact, Richardson, who was exposed as less than faithful to short term fiancé Monica Davis back in DC after the 2024 shown season was over isn’t just going after the Ted Sarandos co-run streamer and others for himself, he’s proposing. sweep class action suit including those who were on “including but not exclusive to seasons 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the series.”
Read the potential Love Is Blind class action lawsuit here
Picking up on National Labor Relations Board dings against LIB from last year, the Vora Law Firm of Santa Monica ,CA and the Wallace & Allen of Houston, TX represented Richardson (What? No Bryan Freedman?) claims “Defendants willfully misclassified and upon information and belief continue to misclassify Plaintiff, the Class Members, and Aggrieved Employees, including those holding positions as ‘Contestant,’ ‘Participant,’ ‘Cast Member,’ and similar job titles (herein referred to as the ‘Cast’), as independent contractors.” It goes on to exclaim this was a “substantial exercise of control over the manner, means, and timing of their work performed for Defendants’ non-scripted content productions, including but not exclusive to the Netflix reality TV show, Love Is Blind.”
Similar to past suits by fellow LIB cast members Renee Poche and Jeremy Hartwell, Ricahrdson in his LA Superior Court filed 9-claim complaint says Netflix and producers bound them up in NDAs and then played quick and loose with their reality for the benefit of reality TV Specifically, as we have heard before in many an unscripted suit, low paid contestants were wrapped up in a “combination of sleep deprivation, isolationl, ack of food, and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled, or encouraged by Defendants contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the Cast.”
“Defendants exercised substantial control over every aspect of the Cast’s lives during production, including the Cast’s time, access to food and drinks, sleeping arrangements, and contact with family and friends and other persons outside of production. Defendants did not allow the Cast to move or act of their own free will while the production took place.”
Tainted as a heel in more ways than one, Richardson is looking for class certification from a judge and then a variety of damages over what he wasn’t paid and the way he says he was treated. No actual proce tag is given in the jury trial desiring September 15 filed complaint, except to say “the amount demanded exceeds $35,000.00.” Likely exceeds that by a lot.
Clearly we haven’t heard this kind of stuff about LIB and other high hormone and low stakes reality TV shows (just as NBCUniversall/Comcast‘s in-house legal department). Clearly, we seen a number of these actions wither on the arbitration vine or get quickly settled.
Just show we all have our eyes wide open, Netflix did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on Richardson’s pay and production action.
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