'Storage Wars' Lawsuit Says Show is Rigged
David Hester, one of the more popular faces on A&E's "Storage Wars," has filed a lawsuit that accuses the show of being rigged.
"Storage Wars" first premiered in 2010 on A&E. During its second season premiere it drew over 5.1 million viewers becoming the most watched television show on the network. But Hester claims the show is "fake" and has filed suit against the company. He claims that he lost his position after bringing his concerns to management.
Hester was originally offered a contract to continue on the next season of the show. But after he accused the company of purposefully placing "valuable and interesting items" in lockers in order to add interest to the show, his contract was revoked according to Radar Online. A&E then went on to prevent the reality star from being a part of filming for new, upcoming episode.
After the first story revealing Hester's statement was published, a source said that other workers were cautioned about speaking publicly regarding the behind the show productions.
"It's tough to fight the network," the source told Radar at the beginning of December. "Executives with the show have even warned people who work there not to talk about what is going on, after Radar's last story came out."
Aside from accusing the network of placing items in lockers on a "regular" basis, the new lawsuit also accused A&E of rigging the bidding and paying for a female employee to have cosmetic surgery in order to increase her "sex appeal" Radar reported.
"The truth is that Defendants regularly salt or plant the storage lockers that are the subject of the auctions portrayed on the Series with valuable or unusual items to create drama and suspense for the show," the suit alleges.
Hester also alleged that a meeting had taken place weeks before in which other workers brought up the same concerns and complaints.