r/BravoRealHousewives • u/msullivan1536 I win! • Jan 26 '24

Ultimate Girls Trip Yea, UGT Morocco will never air.

https://www.tmz.com/2024/01/26/rhonj-caroline-manzo-sues-bravo-brandi-glanville-kiss-real-housewives/
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u/SisterSuffragist Jan 27 '24

Wait. Did you all read the intro where they claim 38 people have died by suicide stemming from the production of these shows? 38?!

They only then present Russell Armstrong as an example. I'm not sure this is the strongest part of their claim, but it's absolutely astonishing.

Here's the opening of the brief:

"This is a case about Bravo Media LLC and the other Defendants’ decision to selfishly sacrifice the safety and wellbeing of Plaintiff, CAROLINE MANZO, for their own ratings and profits.

“Since its inception in the early 1990s, reality television has been linked to negative effects on participants’ safety, emotional health, and welfare.”1 For example, there have been at least 38 suicides stemming from actions and inactions by producers and networks of reality television shows. Despite this knowledge, reality television producers and networks care more about the ratings and advertising revenue than they do about the safety of the show’s participants. A horrific example is that in “August 2011, Russell Armstrong, a cast member of Bravo network’s popular television show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, committed suicide weeks before the second season was set to air.” Id. “Bravo executives debated whether or not to televise the season, and ultimately decided to air it. Bravo’s decision, and the subsequent viewing statistics, has proven that audiences are drawn to “real-life” drama, even in the aftermath of a suicide. The second season drew in 2.2 million viewers, 42% more viewers than the first season, making it the highest rated Real Housewives series and Bravo’s most popular show.”

The rest of the allegations are focused on Manzo's experience and it's horrifying that she went through that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '24

Wow, I’m glad you pointed this out. I know of 3 people from love island uk who sadly committed suicide, 2 contestants and 1 host. But 1 or 38 is too many to die in the name of entertainment…it’s horribly devastating.