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Round 1 of the Storage Wars legal battle looks to have gone to A&E. In a hearing today, a judge threw out the unfair business practices claims of the series former star Dave Hester’s wide-ranging lawsuit against the network and producers of the reality show. LA Superior Court judge Michael Johnson ruled that the claim fell short under California’s anti-SLAPP law. The Judge also sided with the defendants that their
First Amendment rights would be violated if he were to agree to Hester’s attorneys’ request for an injunction against Storage Wars for alleged staging of the show.
A&E had requested that the unfair business practices claim be striped from the five-claim suit and their Constitutional rights affirmed in their January 28 response to Hester’s initial December 11 complaint. Johnson told the downtown hearing that in granting the requested injunction he would essentially be telling A&E what they could and could not programming on their network, something he did not agree was right or warranted. Additionally, he demanded more information on the wrongful termination aspect of Hester’s complaint for the suit to progress in the courts. Hester and his lawyer Marty Singer now have 20 days to amend their initial complaint.
Hester sued A&E and producers Original Productions late last year claiming that Storage Wars was faked and committing a “fraud on the public.” The veteran buyer of abandoned lockers said he was fired from the reality series after three seasons for making a fuss over this alleged practice of salting the storage units before they are bid on and giving advantage to specific contestants. Hester is seeking more than $750,000 in damages. Earlier this year, A&E shot back legally, calling the suit “meritless” and claiming this was all about money not truth. “Original and AETN opposed Hester’s demands for more favorable contract terms, and he was notified that his participation was no longer needed in the Program. Hester then filed this lawsuit against AETN and Original,” the defendants said. A&E is represented by Kelli Sager, John LeCrone and Michelle Bussarakum of LA firm Davis Wright Tremaine.
Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.
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There may be 1st ammendment rights but the truth is the truth. The show does not reflect the truth as far as what is in the lockers and how the sales are conducted. Everyone in the reality business knows this (and most intelligent viewers know this)and Singer ought to do a bit of digging if he needs to find witnesses who can testify to this (if this is an important issue in the lawsuit). It is a reality “show”. In the name of the “show” part, the lockers are “salted” and the outcomes are scripted and/or predetermined in many ways. Hester was a party to this for three years — why didn’t he come forward earlier if he had such a problem with the shows practices! Everyone connected with the show is involved with these issues regardless of the protestations of some of the other participants, including the auctioneer and his wife.
To me, Dave Hester came across as an arrogant, spoiled brat who gets mad if the others in that show beat him at the auction. I nominate him for the “Most Easy to Hate” Award. Whenever his crew was shown, it became apparent that he was doing okay without the show. I never saw anyone else with such a large crew as Hestor’s.
Implying those that don’t agree with you “(and most intelligent viewers know this)” are unintelligent or suspect for not following your logic is interview 101 that the speaker doesn’t know what they are talking about. It’s called a qualifying statement and it’s involuntary.
Anyways, reality shows almost all have scripted content, doesn’t mean the content is scripted. The green screen interviews where they give their thoughts on what’s happening, as it’s happening, is scripted. And they don’t find near enough items of historical value, rarity or worth to support salting. We find better items, including guns, motorcycles and cars, in Phx than they find. Nabila scored between $500k and $1m on Paris Hiltons locker before the show even started, Darrel around $150k in comic books in the 80′s and recently $300k+ in Mexican art. Explain how favor was shown other bidders when several times his late “yup” was counted. His bad karma caused him to go from the top to the bottom in earnings, closing newly opened stores, while EVERYONE
COME ON AUCTION HUNTERS is all set up –
( placing a bag with guns worth 3k, taping gold to the back of a painting)
but hey the cast is able to deliver – its just when editors and producer talk and laugh about how set the lockers are – that is the breakdown they need to keep that quiet so the shows can be delivered without bad press
Are there not strict laws governing the rules that an auction is conducted. Openly bragging about running up bids is the one point that troubles me when I see some of these bidders interviewed. If an auction group gets caught upping an article there can be some serious charges and jail time involved. On this show, they openly run a bidder several hundred dollars, then brag about it. I guess this “Reality TV” stuff is what used to be called good TV..
There will never be another, Yeeeepppppppppppppp. Hoping peace can be had by all and Dave can return to the show.
How sad that things had to come to this. Dave usually got the better deals so it is not like he was being short changed on anything. He bragged all the time about how he was the best. I guess his business got slow and he needed a scapegoat plus some money. IT is a good show with some interesting people on it. Dave always has had that chip on his shoulder right from the very start. I hope all ends well and that the show will continue on with or without him. Yuuuuuuup or no Yuuuuup.
Zandra, when you say his business got slow you have to specify which failed business you’re talking about. Dave has had several failed businesses in the past couple of years and people who live nearby have learned to run from any business he operates.
Thank god I don’t have to hear that word yep again on that show
Amen, brother. The man was a braggart and stuck on himself.
There is no reality in reality TV. Every reality show is to some extent scripted and fake .
He’s a phony. He railing about something he was a willing participant to…….And did pretty well for himself, until he tried to blackmail the network for a bigger contract.
Next they’ll be saying that payola was a First Amendment issue.
Fruits and nuts eventually fall from the branch, either by gravity or with a little shake. The show will be far more enjoyable without this arrogant brick lurking about.
Your 15 minutes is over Dave, can i get a “Yuup!”
Here is a YUUUP from me on this one. Since Jarrod & Brandi are expanding I hope Dave has to sell his big truck & they buy it and change it to NOOOPE!! LOL. He was such an rrogant ass he got what he deserved.
I keep hoping that Christopher Guest will do a mockumentary of reality shows.
He is crying because he made a bad business deal outside the show that cost him over $500grand. Then when that went sour, he cries foul at the show. He got greedy and it bit him in the ass. I say the show would be better now without his bragging about how much money he has. Oh…and I am a former A&E Reality Show veteran, so I know how these folks work. While it was a disruption for the time, the crew were fun to have around.
The show will not be the same without Dave I myself will not watch it anymore
Nooope! But I guess you would have to admit that he did have a signature saying. Yeeeeep!
What about all the faked news that CNN does and Fox News?? isnt that defrauding the public or that doesnt count because they are government sponsered?
See :Sandy Hook, the police running at the school that was NOT
Sandy Hook school??Fox,NBC,ABC CBS,CNN all used this footage
why isnt this a FRAUD on the public?
I totally agree with you.
Glad the jerk is gone. Show will be much better without him.
Is Dave really that money hungry. Good grief, almost every show on television is rigged…The Bachelor, the woman’s version of it. Pawn stars, Hard Core pawn…the list can go on…
The Auctioneer (I think his name is Don)and his wife have emphatically stated publicly that they do not do the “reality show” phony stuff. They claim that the auction sales are on the up n up. Me thinketh they doth protest too much. From a legal standpoint, no doubt it is the auctioneers responsibility to insure that a legal sale takes place — TV show or not. What about the people that are losing their things- you never hear about them or that side of the story, but if I was one of those people I would hope that the auctioneer would handle the sale of my stuff according to the law — and I can’t imagine that the law allows adding or subtracting personal property from storage legal sales so that the 3rd parties or the auctioneer or the TV company can make money. I think there should be an investigation- from the top down.
We TV viewers are not stupid. Of course the show is rigged. So is Ghost Hunters and a lot of Reality Shows. Why is it that we hear nothing about Lesa Lewis who was terminated from Storage Wars because her partner on the show, Jerry, is an ex convict?
Of all the trailer trash on “Storage Wars-Texas” Jerry is the only one I would trust as far as I could throw him! Which no doubt proves something.
I am pretty sure Dave said he did some time years before too so I think the ex con part is wrong.
Well I guess Mr Yuuuup finally got what his arrogant behind deserved.
I hope that the case will end in the show’s removal from the History Channel, along with all the other trash “documentaries” (truck drivers, swamp things, pawnbrokers, furniture-repairers, junk dealers, pretend medieval fighters, etc.) that pollute what used to a serious, extremely rewarding channel. I rarely bother to look at the guide to see what’s on it, though it used to be my favorite channel.
Dave was very selfish and I think he hurt the show.
The lawsuit isn’t about whether the show is real or not, that was just the threat that was used and AE said “guess what, nobody cares”. This whole thing stems from a talent in a show that didn’t get wht he wanted with more money, so the real question is “if he got more money. Would he have sued claiming the show was fake” and we all know the answer is no. By the way, the genre reality doesn’t mean that everything is 100% real it simply means the talent doesn’t have their screen actors guild card
I think hester’s sour grapes are quite apparent. Whatever his motivations are in doing so, he just made himself look like more of an ass than he already did. The judge made it clear that censoring A&E was not what he was going to do. It seems to me that people are forgetting that it is a “show”. Is it rigged? I have no idea and do not really care, it sure is entertaining and i will certainly continue to enjoy the show and more so without hester’s “yuuuuup!”.
Anyone who believes a reality show is real needs a reality check.
I will enjoy the show a lot more with dave gone.