Show business is not for the faint of heat.
A New York-based couple are suing America’s Got Talent’s Marathon Productions because they claim the show and judge, Tyra Banks, publicly humiliated them after performing on stage.
A woman, identified as Jane Doe, claimed she had been singing for 20 years before auditioning for America’s Got Talent. She was asked to be on the show with her husband, who plays the guitar. Producers of the show paid for travel and accommodations for the pair to appear on the program and sing a song about their daughter.
This is when things went left.
As reported by Deadline, the suit claims that during the performance, Banks, “an individual acting as an agent of Defendants, physically manipulated and verbally abused” their daughter. Banks “shook her shoulder”, “pulled her hair back” and “physically manipulated” the girl.… Banks also “insinuated that she was accidentally conceived and made fun of the performance”.
All of this happened during the taping, which the couple was able to keep from being aired. And while the legal documents don’t specify how much money they want for the general, special and punitive damages of “emotional stress and mental suffering,” we have a feeling it’s a good chunk of change.
Being a competition show where contestants are likely to be sensitive about their talent, or lack thereof, we have a feeling Marathon Productions is well equipped to handle this.