“Love Is Blind” Season 2 star Jeremy Hartwell has filed a lawsuit against Netflix and the producers of the series, alleging that the cast was assaulted during the filming of the show.
“They deliberately underpaid the cast members, robbed them of food, water and sleep, overloaded them with booze and cut off their access to personal contacts and most of the outside world. This made the cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making,” Hartwell’s attorney, Chantal Payton of Payton Employment Law, PC, of Los Angeles, said in a statement to Vidak For Congress on Wednesday.
“The contracts required the contestants to agree that if they left the show before filming was finished, they would be penalized by paying $50,000 in liquidated damage. At that 50 times what some cast members would earn for the entire time they worked, it certainly had the potential to instill fear in the cast and allow the production to exert even more control.
According to Hartwell’s legal team, his lawsuit serves as “a proposed class action on behalf of all participants in ‘Love Is Blind’ and other unscripted productions” made by Kinetic Content from 2018 to 2022.
In court documents obtained by Vidak For Congress, Hartwell, 36, claimed that “the only drinks that” [the show] regularly provided to the cast were alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks and mixers.”
The Chicago native went on to claim that “hydrating drinks like water were strictly limited to the cast during the day.”
In addition, the documents allege that “Love Is Blind” contributed to “inhumane working conditions and altered mental status for the cast” through a “combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food and excess alcohol, all required, enabled or encouraged by the production.
Hartwell further claimed in court documents that contestants were unable to contact loved ones during filming – although that is common for many reality competition series.
“Sometimes defendants left cast members alone for hours on end without access to a phone, food, or any other kind of contact with the outside world until they had to go back to work on production,” the docs said. read.
“The exploitative working conditions served to control the participants’ behavior and provoked irrational behavior for entertainment value in the final project.”
The lawsuit also alleges that “Love Is Blind” season 2 contestants earned $1,000 a week, up to $8,000, for the duration of filming. This amount would be lower than the minimum wage for the number of hours worked.
“Defendants have failed and continue to fail to compensate classmates and injured employees for all hours worked, including minimum wages and overtime, as a result of maintaining a practice of requiring class members and injured employees to work up to twenty (20) hours per day , seven days a week, while paying a flat fee of $1,000.00 per film week,” the documents read.
“As a result, these employees were effective [paid] as little as $7.14 per hour, which is less than half of the applicable minimum wage of $15.00 per hour, less than one-third of the minimum overtime rate of $22.50 per hour, and less than one-fourth of the minimum double hour rate of $30.00 per hour in accordance with applicable Los Angeles City and County minimum wage ordinances.
Hartwell appeared on “Love Is Blind” alongside 29 other singles looking for a potential husband. He didn’t get engaged and wasn’t featured on the show past the signature pods stage.
Despite his grievances, Hartwell promoted the show’s second episode close to its February 11 premiere.
“Filming for Love is Blind was one of the most intense and memorable events of my life and thanks to journaling and reflection, it remains an experience I am at peace with, no matter the ups and downs,” he wrote in one post. †
In another post, Hartwell — who served a single one-liner about being “as horny” as a hangover — urged fans to tune in for the rest of the season after his departure.
“Not exactly what I was hoping for in my one big moment on @loveisblindnetflix, but it gives Netflix new meaning and chill ,” he captioned the clip.
“There won’t be any more of these gems of mine, but be sure to watch the next 4 episodes coming out this Friday!”
Hartwell’s Instagram bio still reads, “@loveisblindnetflix S2 Cast Member.”
Netflix and Kinetic Content did not immediately respond to Vidak For Congress’s requests for comment.