MTV were once sued after filming teenagers being sprayed with men’s faeces
We’ve all had our fair share of awful reality television, however one MTV pilot - in which two girls were sprayed with faeces - really takes the cake.
The two girls filed a lawsuit against the youth-focused music channel, claiming that they were sprayed with poop in January 2001 at the taping at an MTV festival in Big Bear, a rural community near Los Angeles.
Both girls were 13 at the time during the taping of Dude, This Sucks, which thankfully never saw the light of day.
In the lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2001, MTV was charged with infliction of emotional distress, negligence and battery by the 13-year-olds.
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Monique Garcia and Kelli Sloat said they were invited to stand near the stage during the taping.
According to the suit, they were giving no warning about the potty prank by the two men - referring to themselves as the 'Shower Rangers'- who excreted on stage.
Zordon is turning in his grave.
The Shower Rangers came out dressed in ‘scouting-type’ costumes and ‘appeared to be acting out some kind of campfire scene,’ according to the suit.
Gloria Allred, the well-known attorney who represented the girls, said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit that the two girls and their four friends saw camera crew cover their equipment with plastic tarps before the Shower Rangers took to the stage.
The men 'turned their backsides to the audience [and] opened a flap on the back of their shorts, exposing their naked buttocks,' Allred said, E! reported.
At the same press conference, Garcia said the pair were ‘having a good time’ before she started smelling something ‘disgusting’ and realised what had happened.
"We were having a good time until the second act of Dude, This Sucks went on," the then middle-school student said at the press conference.
"All of a sudden I was smelling something disgusting, and I started to gag. I looked around at my friends. They were covered in something. As I looked down at myself, I realized that I was, too."
MTV had found success with prank shows in the early 2000s and intended to expand its library, following the success of Jackass, which debuted only three months before this incident.
Brian Graden, who served as MTV’s president of programming at the time, described the incident as ‘unintended’ and apologised at the time.
“This was a terrible incident. It was unintended, and we regret that it happened.
“I was not aware of the content of this segment prior to the taping and have taken steps to ensure that an incident of this nature never happens again. … The footage from the show, part of a pilot taped on remote location, has never and will never air.
“We are sorry if these women were hurt. It is certainly never our intention to hurt anyone."
It is unknown if the two girls got the damages they requested.
And in case you were wondering, Dude, This Sucks was never picked up for a full series.
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Topics: Film and TV, MTV
Gregory Robinson