Love Is Blind contestant Jeremy Hartwell is suing the Netflix show for alleged “inhumane working conditions”.
In a lawsuit filed against Netflix, production company Kinetic Content and casting company Delirium TV on June 29, the season two star claimed contestants were deprived of “food, water and sleep”.
The lawsuit alleges: “They intentionally underpaid the cast members, deprived them of food, water and sleep, plied them with booze and cut off their access to personal contacts and most of the outside world.”
“This made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making.”
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, the 36-year-old alleged “the only drinks that [the show] regularly provided to the cast were alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks and mixers.”
He continued to claim that “hydrating drinks such as water were strictly limited to the cast during the day.”
The lawsuit added: “The contracts required contestants to agree that if they left the show before filming was done, they would be penalized by being required to pay $50,000 in ‘liquidated damages.'”
“With that being 50 times what some of the cast members would earn during the entire time that they worked, this certainly had the potential to instill fear in the cast and enable production to exert even further control.”
According to Jeremy’s legal team, the lawsuit serves as “a proposed class action on behalf of all participants in Love Is Blind and other non-scripted productions” created by Kinetic Content from 2018 to 2022.
The producers of Love Is Blind have since reacted to the lawsuit, telling Variety in a statement: “Mr. Hartwell’s involvement in Season 2 of ‘Love is Blind’ lasted less than one week. Unfortunately, for Mr. Hartwell, his journey ended early after he failed to develop a significant connection with any other participant.”
“While we will not speculate as to his motives for filing the lawsuit, there is absolutely no merit to Mr. Hartwell’s allegations, and we will vigorously defend against his claims.”
View this post on Instagram
Love Is Blind follows 30 men and women as they built romantic connections without ever seeing each other, only meeting for the first time when they get engaged.
The newly engaged couples then head on a romantic trip to Mexico, moving into their own place together, and meeting each other’s family ahead of their weddings.
The series concludes with a wedding, and the couple decide at the altar whether or not to go through with the marriage.
Jeremy was among the 30 contestants cast for season two, but failed to get engaged and was not featured on the show after the earliest stage.
