Posted on 09/20/2005 6:03:41 PM PDT by wagglebee
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Texas woman has sued ABC's popular reality show "Extreme Makeover" for more than $1 million claiming among other things that an abrupt cancellation of her appearance on the program led to her sister's death.
Deleese Williams of Conroe, Texas, claims she came to Los Angeles to be a contestant on the show after undergoing a series of medical exams to determine if her crooked teeth and droopy eyes could be fixed and her small breasts enhanced, according the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The suit starts with the blunt description: "Deleese Williams is considered ugly" and says one doctor promised her "a Hollywood smile like Cindy Crawford."
To prepare for the show, the producers sent a crew to Texas in January 2004 to interview Williams and her family.
The suit claims the "Extreme Makeover" crew manipulated Williams' sister, Kellie, into making cruel statements about Williams' looks.
The night before Williams was to begin her makeover, the show's producers told her it would take too long for work on her jaw to heal. They canceled her appearance and sent Williams home where Kellie, distraught over what she had said about her sister, eventually killed herself, according to the suit.
"Sometimes Deleese blames herself for Kellie's death," the suit said.
An ABC spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment.
LOL! How about a captian: "What do you mean you want to have sex with me?" LOL
Alleged, as I understand it:
They encouraged family members and friends to make nasty comments about her, to create promotional material, implying she would be transformed. The promos actually ran on television, but the night before she was to receive the surgery, ABC backed out evidently. Her sister was so upset having said the things she did, she committed suicide.
I don't know all the details, but it seems plausible, from what we know of the TV production business, IMHO.
My favorite is the plastic surgeon's doubletalk:
"It's a true, honest-to-God doctor-patient relationship," [plastic surgeon Dr. Harvey Zarem] said. He added that he does not remember working with Williams specifically.As I said on the other thread.... AH! a Hollywood "relationship"...
Halloween came early.
> I think Reality TV is ugly!
I think we ought to bring back the proper term, "vulgar." My Mom used the term all the time, almost spitting it out to describe the crass younger generation, and I thought it was a curse word ranking up there with the f-word.
From what I know of the case ABC is on the hook. Good luck to this 'ugly' woman.
One of the funniest shows,I miss that.
The lust for power comes at a price.
This is an ugly woman too. Pamela Anderson.
How about another dog? Alicia Silverstone.
If they actually ran promos then it sounds like she has a case. I'm sure they'll settle out; the publicity debacle isn't worth it for them.
Something about this does not make sense. The "ugly" woman agreed to appear on the show, in front of thousands of people, knowing that she would repeatedly be called ugly. Why should the sister have felt suicidal after making statements that just validated the premise of the show? This is a very sad story, but I wonder what really happened.
It is hard to tell from the photo, but I don't think she is ugly. Plain, but not ugly, and her eyes might be nice.
The show announcing Williams' selection for a mega makeover had already aired on Jan. 7, 2004, when the producers abruptly dropped her...
The promos actually ran on television, but the night before she was to receive the surgery, ABC backed out evidently. Her sister was so upset having said the things she did, she committed suicide.""<<
Hence the first episode of ABC's new reality TV series "Suicide Watch" was born....
I searched "Extreme Makeover", ABC and sued, the search missed it, sorry.
Now if she had THIS face, I'd say she had something to complain about.
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