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Ryan Seacrest, Bravo TV, and others are facing a lawsuit for their upcoming show Shahs of Sunset, which has been dubbed “the Persian Jersey Shore.”
EW has obtained papers filed by show participant Kathy Salem yesterday against Seacrest, his production company, Bravo TV, and Berne Prods. In the suit, Salem claims production staffers misrepresented themselves, showed her only parts of the TV release waiver she signed, and defrauded her.
She also claims she was “verbally abused and physically assaulted” at a party filmed for the series, including the fact that “someone tried to strip [her] top off and another cast member by the name of Reza threw a cup of water in [her] face.” Salem alleges the defendants’ actions “exceeded all bounds of decency and was outrageous, intentional, malicious, and done for the purpose of causing [Salem] to suffer extreme and severe emotional distress,” which has impacted her physical health.
Salem is seeking an injunction against airing all footage featuring her and at least $100,000 in damages, plus legal fees. Seacrest’s representatives declined to comment on the litigation. Shahs of Sunset is scheduled to premiere in February 2012. UPDATE: Bravo TV released a comment to EW regarding the suit: “Bravo has not seen a copy of the complaint, and thus we cannot comment.”
