A former contestant on the hit Netflix series,Love Is Blind, is suing Netflix and the show’s producers for ‘inhumane working conditions’. A lawsuit - filed by Jeremy Hartwell in California Superior Court in Los Angeles - alleges that the cast were paid below the states’ minimum wage, and alleges that the cast were deprived of food and water, while being plied with alcohol. The lawsuit is against Netflix, production company Kinetic Content and casting company Delirium TV.
Hartwell's compliant reads: ‘The combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack 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. At times, defendants left members of the cast alone for hours at a time with no access to a phone, food, or any other type of contact with the outside world until they were required to return to working on the production.’
According to Entertainment Tonight,the lawsuit is a ‘proposed class action’ with himself and any persons who signed a similar agreement with Netflix or either of the production companies within four years of his filing. (Kinetic Content also produce Netflix reality show The Ultimatium: Marry or Move On.)
As well as alleging that the cast were paid under minimum wage, Hartwell also alleges in the court documents that the contract for the show stated that cast members pay $50,000 in ’so-called liquidated damages’ if they left the show during production or otherwise breached their contract.
Hartwell later said to People: ‘Being on the show left me sleep-deprived, socially isolated and mentally drained and I had what I can only describe as an out-of-body experience. I would hear myself saying things that were contrary to what I was thinking at the time. After the production, I felt and looked like a zombie for a few days.’
Grazia have contacted Netflix and Kinetic Content for comment. Delirium TV could not be found for comment.