Christine Quinn has accused Selling Sunset producer Adam DiVello of workplace harassment and sexual misconduct, alleging that he is not allowed on set with any female cast members of the show. DiVello is largely known for producing MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, as well as spin-off The Hills under his own production company.
Appearing on Call Her Daddy, Quinn opened up about her experience filming Selling Sunset and made numerous claims of workplace toxicity. Not only did she allege that she was ‘pressured’ into filming mere days after her traumatic birth while experiencing post-partum depression, but the reality star also said that numerous complaints have been filed against DiVello for bullying and harassment.
‘It is a male-dominated industry in the production field to which they manipulate women, they harass them, they just mentally torture and intimidate them,’ Quinn told host Alexandra Cooper. ‘I want to clarify here, it’s Adam DiVello. Adam DiVello is the one who owns the production company which is the same one who did The Hills and made Heidi and Spencer look like they were crazy. It’s all dependent on who’s producing the show and we have to look at what Adam DiVello has done as a whole, as a human being.’
‘It’s been sick, he actually told me to go fall down the stairs and kill myself at one point,’ she continued. ‘That wasn’t the first complaint I filed against him, there was another complaint where he to this day cannot actually step foot on set with any of the women in the office because of misconduct.'
Quinn explained that the first incident that led to her complaint came after she gave an interview about what really went on behind the scenes of Selling Sunset, alleging that DiVello screamed at and threatened her in front of witnesses. She then elaborated on the second complaint mentioned, saying the following:
‘I don’t want to get too much into it but there was inappropriate sexual misconduct, and Heidi filed a claim as well against him. This stuff does go on, ever since then he’s never been allowed to step foot with any of the women on set because of it. And he has shown retaliatory behaviour to me ever since. Even before that he had his cast and he knew who his villain was going to be.’
Grazia reached out to DiVello and Netflix for comment on the allegations but are yet to receive a reply. Neither party have publicly commented on any of the reports about the alleged incidents in question.
In 2010, Heidi Pratt accused DiVello of groping her during a cast photoshoot for The Hills. At the time, tabloid reports stated that she was set to sue him, but the lawsuit was never filed and MTV staunchly denied the claim. ‘We have looked into this matter and the allegations made against Adam DiVello are completely false and without merit,’ MTV stated at the time. ‘Adam not only created The Hills and The City, launching the careers of several cast members, but has worked diligently to maintain a respectful and appropriate production environment.’
In the press at the time, Pratt was picked apart for making the allegation at all, her body and personality berated by tabloids (some of the reports are quite disturbing to read), especially after Lauren Conrad and Lo Bosworth both came to DiVello’s defence. She has not spoken of the allegation publicly since. Now, however, her husband Spencer Pratt has come to Christine Quinn’s defence – tweeting his support DiVello being fired from Netflix.
It’s entirely not the reality-tv cross over one would want for these two legendary shows, but one can hope that this time around, allegations are taken seriously not just by Netflix but by tabloids too, lest we relive the vile days when sexual harassment claims were sneered at and dismissed before proper investigations were even conducted.