Jonathan and Ana Towns of The Amazing Race are seeking more than $8 million in damages from CBS, Paramount, ABC Signature (now 20th Television) and Jerry Bruckheimer Films over claims that they were intentionally defamed on Season 37 of the competition series.
In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the Townses allege that ‘The Amazing Race’ producers purposely smeared them by including “decontextualized” footage on the show that depicted Jonathan as “a morally depraved, brutal and abusive spouse.”
“The resulting broadcast, disseminated to tens of millions of viewers on a nationally distributed television network, falsely portrayed Jonathan Towns, a private individual with no antecedent public profile, as a morally depraved, brutal and abusive spouse,” the court docs state.
According to Deadline, the lawsuit goes on to allege that the network and show producers launched a “smear strategy so audacious and immoral that would shock the conscience of even the most cynical propagandist.” Furthermore, the pair– who are representing themselves in the jury-seeking complaint, filed this week in Los Angeles– allege that ‘Amazing Race’ producers omitted footage from Season 37 that portrayed Jonathan in a more “humanizing” light.
‘Amazing Race’ viewers may recall Jonathan exhibiting said “morally depraved, brutal” behavior towards his wife last season, with Jonathan being reprimanded multiple times for his name-calling and attitude towards Ana. (It’s worth noting that Jonathan admitted last year to treating his wife “very poorly” on ‘The Amazing Race,’ while insisting that he and Ana had come a long way since the show wrapped.)
Despite what many viewers observed, the Townses– who went on to place third in the competition– argue in their suit that this sort of “inflammatory content” was trivial to the storyline of the reality series. Jonathan and Ana also claim that no other Season 37 contestants were portrayed in this manner, suggesting that they were singled out when it came to editing.
The Townses argue that while producers had the footage they needed in order to “tell an accurate and complete story,” they chose instead to paint a “false and damaging characterization” of the couple. Jonathan and Ana insist that this action constitutes defamation, per California law.
The lawsuit also notes that Jonathan has been diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder; while his diagnosis was unknown to those on-set at the time, they claim that production observed Jonathan in “clear emotional anguish” during filming and did little to help him. Instead, the pair claim, producers convinced them that there was nothing underhanded going on at the time and convinced the two not to quit the competition.
Jonathan and Ana are seeking $8 million from the defendants, along with punitive damages. Additionally, the couple want ‘Amazing Race’ producers to either re-edit the Season 37 footage or include “appropriate disclaimers” about Jonathan’s autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. The pair are also asking that producers issue a formal written correction and a public apology for the way they were portrayed in Season 37.
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(Photos: CBS; Instagram)
3 Responses
I watched this season and I can understand some of this if he’s talking about the challenges. There were a few challenges where he got overwhelmed and just sat or layed down in the middle of it when he was struggling. However, his autism cannot be blamed for speaking to and treating his wife the way he did. He was mean and dismissive and put her down continuously.
Given how many couples that have been on Amazing Race that were volatile, I still remember Ray and Deana from S7, I’m sure the legal documents for portrayals are locked and loaded for instances of contestants not liking their edit. I only saw a few clips of them, but they seemed to be making other contestants uncomfortable. The producers/editors are going to work with what you gave them, and they seem to have given production a lot of footage. If she is going to excuse his behavior, then I really hope in the future she will see that this is not acceptable way to treat your partner.
They can’t air footage of you making your wife cry if you don’t make your wife cry. Being autistic doesn’t make you say mean things and treat your wife poorly. How about taking accountability for your actions?
This is in poor taste. These people need to go away.