How the Reality-TV Industry Mistreats Its Stars

Published: May 27, 2024, 10 a.m.

On the reality-TV dating show \u201cLove Is Blind,\u201d the most watched original series in Netflix history, contestants are alone in windowless, octagonal pods with no access to their phones or the Internet. They talk to each other through the walls. There\u2019s intrigue, romance, heartbreak, and, in some cases, sight-unseen engagements. According to several lawsuits, there\u2019s also lack of sleep, lack of food and water, twenty-hour work days, and alleged physical and emotional abuse. The New Yorker staff writer Emily Nussbaum has been reporting on what these lawsuits reveal about the culture on the set of \u201cLove Is Blind,\u201d and a push for a new union to give reality-TV stars employee protections and rights. \u201cThe people who are on reality shows are a vulnerable class of people who are mistreated by the industry in ways that are made invisible to people, including to fans who love the shows,\u201d Nussbaum tells David Remnick. Nussbaum\u2019s forthcoming book is \u201cCue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV.\u201d