Photo sourcePosted on 09/20/2005 1:53:52 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
ABC's Extreme Makeover may promise to make "dreams come true" by giving participants looks they've always wanted, but a Conroe woman who was cut from the show the night before she was to undergo extensive plastic surgery says the experience was nothing short of a nightmare.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles, 30-year-old Deleese Williams says her experience with the show set in motion a spiral of events that eliminated her self-esteem, strained her relationships with loved ones and prompted the suicide of her sister, Kellie McGee.
According to the lawsuit, Williams flew to Los Angeles in late 2003 for an extensive interview, meeting with producers and doctors. Plastic surgeons, including Dr. Harvey Zarem, suggested surgeries such as an eye lift, chin implant, breast implants and corrective jaw surgery, the lawsuit states.
ABC has declined to comment on the case, but Zarem, who has worked with the show for several years, said despite the televised aspect, doctors are careful to keep their clients' best interests in mind.
"It's a true, honest-to-God doctor-patient relationship," he said. He added that he does not remember working with Williams specifically. "They put the patient through an appropriate work-up that is far in excess of what we would normally do. There are no shortcuts whatsoever."
On Dec. 21, during a live taping of a show called Life After Extreme Makeover , Williams learned she had been selected as an Extreme Makeover participant and a film crew was sent to Conroe to interview her friends and family.
The lawsuit alleges that producers asked McGee and other family members questions about Williams' looks, encouraging emotional responses through "subtle and undisclosed manipulation, subterfuge and emotional abuse."
"Through all this my friends and family, who have never said anything before, have said things that made me realize that, 'Yes, I was right and everyone did think I looked like a freak,' " Williams says in the suit.
The night before her first surgery in Los Angeles, a show official came to her hotel and, according to the lawsuit, said, "You will not be getting an extreme makeover after all."
Williams was told it would take too much time to fix her malformed jaw.
Back at home, the lawsuit said, life wasn't the same for Williams, who had heard "horrific, hurtful statements from virtually every member of her family" during taping.
Her relationship with her sister was especially strained.
"When she came back without the makeover, Kellie did not forgive herself," said Casie Gotro, Williams' attorney "Deleese tried to tell her, 'It's OK, I forgive you.' But Kellie would not let Deleese forgive her, and she could not forgive herself."
On May 25, 2004, McGee overdosed on prescription drugs and alcohol, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and wrongful death.
Gotro said Williams still desires an extreme makeover — but on her terms.
"We are asking that she get the surgeries that she was promised repeatedly. Deleese is open to having the surgeries done," Gotro said, noting that Williams wants the surgeries performed in Houston by doctors she chooses.
In addition to dealing with the death of her sister, whose two children she and her husband, Michael, are rearing in addition to their two, Williams has become a "virtual recluse," Gotro said.
"It's no secret why reality television has become the darling of the networks," Gotro said, noting the shows' low production costs. "There's a human cost associated with this type of television. (Deleese) wants them to know you can't just cast people away like they're nothing."
kristin.finan@chron.com
I agree. I'll wager good money this wasn't the first time.
Wacky sister was probably suicidal long before the show. ABC doesn't have responsibility for the death or any family dispute.
Many surgeries are called off at the last minute for a multiple of reasons out in the real world. This is no different. This is elective surgery, not life threatening. I'm sure she's not the first contestant who has been given the boot and won't be the last. That's the chance she took. Any bets the family or sister sent in her application? ABC, just from this article, shouldn't be liable for anything.
Glad I gave up TV except for football and a few select movie channels
"Williams was told it would take too much time to fix her malformed jaw."
** I wish they figured that out before encouraging bitter family exchanges."
Which is why she will win a big award. People are tired of these reality shows taking advantage of people.
It's easy to say she should have known better than to get mixed up in one of these exploitive shows in the first place, and so deserves to be screwed over, but I think the jury will have more sympathy for her than for ABC and the jury is the one who will decide.
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