REALITY STARS BITE BACK AT NETWORK

AVERAGE JOES SUE NBC

By: Sharifah Chammas

sharifah@stanfordalumni.org

Looking to change the status quo of Reality TV in Hollywood, the contestants on NBC’s “Average Joe” filed a landmark lawsuit pertaining to labor rights.

DANTE ALIGHIRE from Average Joe Season Four

LOS ANGELES, May 19 -   Sometimes fifteen minutes of fame is not enough.

Last month, seventeen “Average Joe” contestants teamed up and filed a lawsuit against NBC alleging numerous labor code violations.  The Plaintiffs became the first on-camera reality TV participants to take on a network, and talk about money and demand that networks treat them as an employee with rights.

Dante Alighire, 37, spent ten weeks of his life sequestered from the outside world to film NBC’s fourth season of “Average Joe.”

He says his NBC contract promised compensation and the producers promised him: the show’s spotlight, future walk-on roles, hosting gigs.  However, the producers failed to deliver and the studio never paid him a cent.

Alighire returned to the life he put on hold to face a harsher reality: no money, no job and plenty of bills to pay.  “If they are going to take away months of your life, how do you pay your bills?  That’s the main thing.

They have to compensate you somehow.  Pay me minimum wage. Something,” he says.

And he is not alone.  “Average Joe” contestants from all four seasons came forward to complain that they received zero payment from NBC.

The case launched an unprecedented battle in the reality TV industry.  In 2005, the Writers’ Guild filed a lawsuit against networks of reality TV shows on behalf of the editors and writers; but the Average Joe case ventures into a gray legal area and poses the question, “Do the contestants deserve to be paid anything?”

Reality show contestants, who believe the answer to this question is yes, may have some help on the horizon from American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), which covers reality programming.

AFTRA made headway this week by re-classifying American Idol’s “Top 12” finalists as performers and not just amateur contestants, thus securing that they will begin receiving wages for each of their performances.

But AFTRA still does not recognize “Average Joe” individuals as “talent” under its contract.

“Average Joe” mocks “The Bachelor” and “Joe Millionaire” with a crude twist at the contestants' expense.  The undesirable dorks - i.e., overweight, underweight, buck-toothed, bad hair men - compete against male models for a beauty queen.

Stars of “American Idol,” “Survivor,” and “Average Joe” fall under the “amateur contestant” category according to the National Director of Entertainment, Joan Halpern Weise. 

To date “amateur contestants” competing for a prize are not covered under AFTRA, Weise said.

“If these individuals are determined to be employees by the Court, then the entire landscape of reality television will change,” Century City litigator Damon Heilweil says.

“What is amazing is that this case could leave networks scratching their heads to figure out how to properly compensate an individual on a reality show. When does the working day begin?  When does it end?  And how about overtime?  Networks may begin to walk a tightrope, unsure of how much they can direct the participants without converting them into an employee,” Heilweil said.

The correlation between participants’ rights and title classification is a tightly kept secret in the world of reality TV.  Not being considered talent, an actor, a host, model, or a performer prevents many reality contestants from being protected by the various unions.  Not being considered an employee also prevents them from asserting their rights to earn any wages.

Most reality show participants – like Alighire - hastily sign lengthy contracts that provide nominal or not-so-nominal payments to offset the costs of participating or for story rights.

“It's a long contract and basically you sign away everything.  People going on reality shows are looking for a shortcut to fame and fortune and they know that if they don't want to sign the contract, there's 1000s standing behind them ready to take their place,” Survivor Exile Island contestant and lawyer Bobby Mason (aka Bobdawg) says.

Las Vegas “Real World” cast members Frank Roessler and Stephen Hill agreed. “You are begging to be on the shows,” Roessler said.  Roessler and Hill beat out 35,000 contestants to star on MTV’s number one reality show and the highest rated season.

Roessler and Hill star in the upcoming Las Vegas Real World Reunion.  They said producers paid them well for two weeks living at the Palms but they signed a contract and cannot elaborate.

For Mason, Roessler and Hill contracts were honored.

Alighire says he and the plaintiffs did not receive a dime.

Alighire wants no more reality television action. “I would never want anyone to go through my situation,” he says. 

“I hope the case changes the way participants are paid on the show with all the money the networks make from these shows paying a percentage to the people who make the show a reality,” Alighire said.

When contacted about the case, NBC Universal issued the following statement, “We believe that the Plaintiffs' allegations are without merit, and we expect to prevail in the litigation."