A follow up post from MTV's Scatological Swinishness;
Teenagers Sue MTV Over Fecal Spraying
'Dude, This Sucks' Includes Shower Rangers Performance in Which Feces Hits the Fans
Los Angeles Daily Journal - Apr 6, 2001
By Donna Huffaker
Daily Journal Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES - If they had had the poop on MTV's show "Dude, This Sucks," two Big Bear teen-agers would have stayed home.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday against the entertainment channel, the girls, represented by attorney Gloria Allred, allege members of a variety act exposed their rear ends and sprayed fecal matter on them as the 14-year-old audience members gagged from the smell.
"We believe that subjecting children without their knowledge and consent and without notice to their parents to such an outrageous and indecent act is completely unacceptable and intolerable and is in conscious disregard of their rights and feelings," Allred said.
In a statement issued Thursday, Brian Graden, president of programming for MTV, admitted the incident and apologized.
Monique Garcia and Kelli Sloat attended a weekend taping of MTV's "Dude, This Sucks," a show that features contestants' bizarre talents, during its "Snowed In" weekend festival on Jan. 21, according to the lawsuit. Garcia and Sloat v. Viacom Inc., SC066019 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed April 5, 2001).
MTV staff did not explain the nature of the upcoming acts, but the girls, seated next to the stage, noticed plastic covers over the cameras, according to the complaint. Nothing covered the audience, the suit states.
The performers, the Shower Rangers, took the stage, dressed in scouting-type uniforms and appeared to act out some kind of campfire scene, the lawsuit states.
The Shower Rangers then turned their backsides to the audience and exposed their naked rear ends, the lawsuit adds. Bending over Garcia and Sloat, one of the Shower Rangers allegedly spread his cheeks and defecated on the girls.
"At first, I was in a state of shock and couldn't believe what happened. Then I smelled an awful odor which made me gag," Sloat said.
"When I saw what was splattered on me and my friends, I was in complete dismay."
Horrified and humiliated, Sloat returned to school to learn that her classmates and some teachers had heard about the incident. The students cracked jokes, she said, and some kids "wouldn't' come near us because ... they said we smelled."
Garcia said she was having a great time at the taping until she started to smell a foul odor. She looked around and noticed she and her friends were "covered in something." Embarrassed, Garcia didn't want to tell her family what happened, she said.
"No one can say or do anything to make the memory of that day ever go away or make it any easier to talk about," she said.
In his statement, Graden apologized for the incident, saying the show's intent was not to harm anyone. He assured Garcia and Sloat the footage from the show, part of a pilot taped on location in the mountains, never has aired and won't.
"This was a terrible incident. It was unintended, and we regret that it happened," he said. "I was not aware of the content of this segment prior to the taping and have taken steps to ensure that an incident of this nature never happens again."
Defendants named in the suit are Viacom, MTV and MTV Networks. The plaintiffs allege intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and battery.
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MTV Sued for Potty Prank - Eonline.com
Fri., Apr. 6, 2001 11:25 AM PDT by Josh Grossberg
Maybe MTV needs to dump the toilet humor.
The music channel issued a mea culpa Thursday to two 14-year-old girls who were the victims of a Jackass-style prank in which they were showered with human feces.
The apology came just after the two victims, Monique Garcia and Kelly Sloat, filed a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the cable net, charging MTV with infliction of emotional distress, negligence and battery.
The incident occurred January 21, during a taping of a pilot for a new show, Dude, That Sucks, in the girls' native Big Bear (a ski resort two hours north of L.A.). It was part of MTV's "Snowed In" weekend special.
According to the suit, Garcia and Sloat were steered to the side of the stage by MTV staffers, who failed to warn the girls that two men dubbed the "Shower Rangers" were planning to defecate on stage. The men came out dressed in "scouting-type uniforms" and "appeared to be acting out some kind of campfire scene."
The girls' attorney, Gloria Allred, said the Shower Rangers then "turned their backsides to the audience [and] opened a flap on the back of their shorts, exposing their naked buttocks." One of the Rangers spread his cheeks and sprayed the girls.
"We were having a good time until the second act of Dude, This Sucks went on," Garcia told reporters during a press conference to announce the lawsuit.
"All of a sudden I was smelling something disgusting and I started to gag," she added. "I looked around at my friends. They were covered in something. As I looked down at myself I realized that I was, too."
The potty prank naturally didn't go over well with the girls. Garcia and Sloat, both middle school students, say they couldn't hide the incident from their classmates who taunted the duo when they got back to school.
"Everyone knew about it, even some of the teachers," said Sloat. "Most of the kids were cracking jokes or wouldn't come near us because, even though we washed off the feces, they said 'we smelled.' I will never ever forget what a horrible experience this was."
For its part MTV, which is already knee-deep in controversy over Jackass stunts, called the Dude prank a "terrible incident" that will never be repeated.
"It was unintended and we regret that it happened," Brian Graden, MTV's programming president, said in a statement. "I was not aware of the content of this segment prior to the taping, and have taken steps to ensure that an incident of this nature never happens again."
Graden also let it be known that the footage from the pilot "has never and will never air" and said the network vows to address the lawsuit "accordingly through the legal process."
"We are sorry if these women were hurt. It is certainly never our intention to hurt anyone," added Graden.
The girls are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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MTV apologizes for defecation stunt - By BroadCasting & Cable Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/6/2001 4:16:00 AM MT
The MTV cable network apologized on Thursday to two 14-year-old girls who were sprayed with feces from two rock performers during the taping of a television program dubbed Dude, This Sucks, Reuters reports.
The teenagers sued MTV in Los Angeles Superior Court for infliction of emotional distress, negligence and battery because of the incident which took place last January in Big Bear, a mountain community near the city. Monique Garcia and Kelli Sloat said they were invited to stand near the stage during taping of the show and were given no warning that two men calling themselves the "Shower Rangers" would suddenly defecate on stage. Brian Graden, MTV president of programming, admitted the incident took place and apologized, vowing that the footage will never be aired. Garden said, "This was a terrible incident. It was unintended and we regret that it happened."
