A blockbuster lawsuit against Storage Wars has been filed by David Hester, one of its best-known figures, alleging that the A&E hit is fake and fired him out of spite.
The show reportedly picked up Hester’s contract option, then rescinded it for Season 4 after he raised a series of complaints to the network and producers.
Now, in his Storage Wars lawsuit, Hester accuses the show of illegal activity and an ongoing pattern of outrageous behavior in deceiving the public.
The suit contains many bombshell claims, including that that the network and producers regularly “salt” lockers with valuables to add drama to the show.
They also rig the bidding and even paid for a female cast member’s plastic surgery to add sex appeal, according to Hester, who seeks millions in damages.
Seriously? In a word … yuuuuuuuuuup!
He says cast members confronted execs at an in-person meeting this year about the show being rigged, then found himself fired and indemnified days later.
How is Storage Wars supposedly fake? Specifically, he alleges:
- Producers staged entire units and enlists cooperation of owners of storage facilities
- The show pays for lockers for “weaker” cast members as part of the manipulation
- The show plants items in lockers after having them appraised weeks in advance
- The show obtains items to be placed in the units from a business regularly on air
In addition, Hester alleges that interviews are scripted and that scenes of bidding are faked to the extent that there NO auctions shown are open to the public.
Perhaps the suit’s biggest claim, however, is that the cast members, along with Hester, raised concerns about the bullet points above and were dismissed.