Extreme Makeover sued over suicide

[bgirldeb]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/tv/3360849

discuss...

 

[tekmom]

This is so stupid. Her sister obviously had other issues. " My sister can't get a makeover, I said she was ugly, I must do myself in....I know!!....a coke overdose!!" Please..idiot. I'm sure a lawsuit will make everyone feel better.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Sad story all around. She must have been so horrified when they cancelled on her. I doubt she will win any money though. ABC lawyers will no doubt try to settle with her before hand.

I also think it will be hard to prove the sister killed herself because the other sister didnt get plastic surgery.

 

[jbdreamer]

I heard about that on the radio!

Seriously this women has issues if she thinks her uglyness caused her sister to kill herself! She doesn't deserve that much credit. She is just looking for a way to make a buck.

Her sister had other issues if she was using coke - I am sure it wasn't the first time.

Nothing is going to come of her lawsuit. Those reality shows make you sign over your life. They can do whatever they want, and you can't do anything about it.

 

[bgirldeb]

When I heard this story on the radio yesterday, I thought it sounded like such a terrible tragedy. That was before I heard of the lawsuit, and HOW her sister killed herself. Quite a selfish thing to do when you have children.

And, the fact that she's still trying to get surgery makes me feel differently about it as well:

Gotro said Williams still desires an extreme makeover — but on her terms.

"We are asking that she get the surgeries that she was promised repeatedly. Deleese is open to having the surgeries done," Gotro said, noting that Williams wants the surgeries performed in Houston by doctors she chooses.

In addition to dealing with the death of her sister, whose two children she and her husband, Michael, are rearing in addition to their two, Williams has become a "virtual recluse," Gotro said.

 

[PixieDust32]

OMG!! No comments!!! People sued over everything..........

 

[DawnCt1]

I have to say that when I heard the story on television I was and I am sympathetic with the plaintiff. Having seen these episodes before, family and friends are encouraged to say awful and hurtful things about the patient prior to surgery to add drama to the program. That's understandable. Those words however are like a pandora's box. Once they are said they can never be taken back. I heard that her MIL said that she was shocked that her son would "marry someone so ugly". I am sure that her sister had other issues, but who knows what it takes to push someone over the edge. My opinion is, if the surgery was going to take too long for them to make a show about it, ABC had gone too far to pull the plug at that point. They should have provided her with the surgery, saved the footage for another time or just taken the loss. To be that prepared, and that close to having your life changed and then thrown under the bus, is to me, unconscienable. They make millions of dollars on advertizing with these types of programs. It is in a sense worse than "Queen for A Day" from the 1950's that capitalized on peoples' misfortune. ABC capitalizes on people with severe facial and dental deformities who have no choice and no control with regard to the way the look. They offer them hope and then they shut the door. There should be some accountability for that.

 

[pattyT]

I thought the show was RIDICULOUS when I saw it the first time...
I think it is sooo sad that so many feel so negatively about themselves that they apply in the first place...
Obviously the sister must have had other issues before this -
the fact that a lawsuit is a result just is ridiculous!
(although I have to feel bad for the girl with her 'dreams' so close to reality and then to have to go through some serious emotional termoil of being rejected!)

 

[lulugirl]

Sad story, I think the lawsuit is absurd.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

oh please, now she's trying to make demands on the show?! And I highly doubt her sister committed suicide because of this...

 

[DawnCt1]

I thought the show was RIDICULOUS when I saw it the first time...
I think it is sooo sad that so many feel so negatively about themselves that they apply in the first place...
Obviously the sister must have had other issues before this -
the fact that a lawsuit is a result just is ridiculous!
(although I have to feel bad for the girl with her 'dreams' so close to reality and then to have to go through some serious emotional termoil of being rejected!)

If you were buying a house and the sellers renegged, you would have a law suit. How is this any different from an implied contract? I feel that ABC is opportunistic, preying on people who have low self esteems with the promise of changing their lives and then changing their minds. While I am sure they have some wording in their contracts that protect themselves, surely, when it gets to the night before, the awful things from friends and family members have been recorded and shown, they have some obligation, at least morally to follow through with their original intent. At the least, it is cruel.

 

[Chuck S]

If you were buying a house and the seller renegged, doesn't the contract specify the damages the "buyer" may be able to claim? Any contract, especially for a major corporation like ABC/Disney should have specific damages or a virtually iron clad "hold harmless" clause.

Besides, unless there are other problems not evident in the photo the woman is far from ugly...average, maybe a little "plain" but certainly not ugly.

The sister had to have had more problems than just making unflattering remarks about her for a TV show. More likely clinical depression led to this tragedy, it was just waiting for a trigger/excuse.

 

[KAMLEM]

It's so obvious that this woman is just suing so she can get the plastic surgery done. I have watched these shows before and I have never heard family members say horrible things about the patient's appearance. What I recall is them making comments about what the patient themselves thought about their appearance and how that impacted their life.

 

[DawnCt1]

It's so obvious that this woman is just suing so she can get the plastic surgery done. I have watched these shows before and I have never heard family members say horrible things about the patient's appearance. What I recall is them making comments about what the patient themselves thought about their appearance and how that impacted their life.

Well of course she is suing to get the plastic surgery done. Why do you think she was willing to go on national tv and humiliate herself? To get the plastic surgery done. In this case, apparently family members did say disparaging things. ABC would have been well served had they been advised to follow through with the surgery regardless of whether they could have used the footage. I think it is one thing to accept and application and have someone waiting for a decision. It's another thing to have made that decision and then renegged.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

At first glance, I thought this was going to be about an actual contestant committing suicide - not the sister. I have always worried that someone who either went through it or got turned down would end up killing themselves. The Swan was another show where I thought they were just playing with people who have enough self esteem issues as it is. It's scary messing with these people's emotions like they do.

 

[poohandwendy]

Well of course she is suing to get the plastic surgery done. Why do you think she was willing to go on national tv and humiliate herself? To get the plastic surgery done. In this case, apparently family members did say disparaging things. ABC would have been well served had they been advised to follow through with the surgery regardless of whether they could have used the footage. I think it is one thing to accept and application and have someone waiting for a decision. It's another thing to have made that decision and then renegged.

I totally disagree with the wrongful death part of the suit. Noone was forced to say anything negative about her appearance. The network is not responsible for the mental heath and/or relationship issues of the participants or their family members.

I think she may have a case with implied contract, but that is about it. The rest of it is an abuse of the legal system, IMHO.

 

[DawnCt1]

I totally disagree with the wrongful death part of the suit. Noone was forced to say anything negative about her appearance. The network is not responsible for the mental heath and/or relationship issues of the participants or their family members.

I think she may have a case with implied contract, but that is about it. The rest of it is an abuse of the legal system, IMHO.

While no one was forced to say anything negative, clearly there is some coersion. They know that their family member was selected because of her appearance. They know that she was among many who applied. I think that there is certainly some implied pressure that "if I don't say this, if its not a good show, she may be deselected". I think, in the end that ABC will be held more accountable than you think. Do you remember the Jenny Jones Show where she had a show with a homophobe and a homosexual male who had a secret crush on the homophobe? The straight man felt humiliated on national tv and killed the homosexual male. The gay man's family sued the Jenny Jones Show and won a very large sum. Now certainly, Jenny Jones wouldn't have suggested that the straight guy retaliate and kill the gay guy, but she was instrumental in creating a situation that would have not occurred on its own. That is what ABC has done. We don't know the sister's mental state. After about the third post in this thread someone mentioned a "coke" overdose. The article said she OD'd on alcohol and perscription drugs. So we really don't know what her "issues" were other than major depression. If she weren't depressed before, she could have had a major reactive depression. I think that if any network is going to seek to make millions on the misfortunes of others, they need to be willing to accept responsiblity for the pain they may be inflicting.

 

[KAMLEM]

I just have a problem with the fact that it wasn't even the participant who committed suicide. If the woman was ok with saying negative things about her sister then she can only blame herself. Nobody would be able to "coerce" me to do that to my sister.

 

[DawnCt1]

I just have a problem with the fact that it wasn't even the participant who committed suicide. If the woman was ok with saying negative things about her sister then she can only blame herself. Nobody would be able to "coerce" me to do that to my sister.

Could you be "coerced" if you thought that your sister wouldn't get the surgery that she had dreamed of? The answer may still be "no" but we don't know that family's abilities or limitations. Perhaps the "participant" was stronger than her sister. I don't think that ABC is going to "walk" on this, and they shouldn't. I think that when you are in the business of making "reality shows" that have the ability to impact people's lives to such a degree, you need to be held accountable for that. This is a company that has "paid off" almost a half billion dollars in "Eisner mistakes", because he couldn't work with a particular person that he hired, or he felt his power base "threatened". All of those not business decisions but "Eisner emotional impact decisions". Surely, this is at least as significant as the Katzenberg/Ovitz decisions.

 

[Serena]

I think the show should not be allowed to back out at that late date, but I'm sure they have it in a contract somewhere that they can without repercussions.
And I highly doubt they will take responsibility for the sister taking her own life because she couldn't forgive herself for insulting her sister. They cannot be held responsible for the mental health of all the family members of a contestant.

I am glad that show was able to help people, but the whole concept makes me sad.