Bristol Palin And A&E Sued Over TV Series

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday July 2, 2012 @ 6:42pm PDT

Bristol Palin is being sued again by talent manager Stephen Hanks because of her reality TV show. Sarah Palin’s daughter is the star of the floundering series Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp on Lifetime. Hanks filed a new lawsuit for defamation and invasion of privacy on June 28th. (He’d filed earlier this month seeking $75,000 against Palin and Lifetime.) Now Hanks says “plaintiff has learned of additional defendants”. Now being sued are Palin, Lifetime’s parent company A&E Television Network, production company Associated Television International, and Life’s A Tripp exec producer David McKenzie. In a 15-page civil complaint (read it here), Hanks is seeking unnamed compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages.

Palin’s show is getting more attention in the courts than it is from viewers. Life’s A Tripp proved a flop when it debuted on June 19th and has since been moved off A&E subsidiary Lifetime’s primetime schedule. There is still another lawsuit pending: Christopher and Kyle Masse are suing ATI and McKenzie alleging that the producers cut them out of the Bristol reality show on Lifetime. Unlike Hanks’ suit, Palin herself is not named in the Massey action. Hanks initially garnered attention for heckling Bristol over her mother’s politics. She in turn called him a “homosexual” in a heated encounter in a West Hollywood bar on September 22, 2011. Hanks later claimed he was filmed without permission. Hanks in his latest lawsuit says that because of Palin’s actions, which are described in the suit as “deliberate, malicious and despicable”, he has “suffered harm to his profession and occupation and expended money as a result of the statements”. Represented by LA’s Gulden & Associates, Hanks is seeking a 7- to 10-day jury trial here. A&E and ATI had no comment on Hanks lawsuit today.

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Lifetime Relegates Bristol Palin’s Reality Series To 11 PM

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday June 29, 2012 @ 7:27pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

It was two and out of primetime for Lifetime‘s new reality series Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp. After two dismal airings, the cable network has pulled the show from its Tuesday 10 PM slot, relegating it to 11 … Read More »

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Bristol Palin’s Lifetime Reality Series Bombs

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday June 20, 2012 @ 2:10pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

Bristol Palin: Life's A Tripp RatingsThe premiere of Lifetime‘s new reality series Bristol Palin: Life’s A Tripp last night drew an underwhelming 726,000 total viewers and 254,000 adults 18-49. The series starring Sarah Palin’s daughter, which aired against MTV … Read More »

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