Survivor Stacey sues over show’s `rigged’ outcome

Greg Jerrett

Last summer’s drama associated with the hit CBS show “Survivor” may not over yet. Stacey Stillman, the 27-year-old lawyer who was voted off the island in the first round has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior court, according to Reuters. Stillman is claiming that “Survivor” was rigged by the show’s producers to keep the show appealing to certain demographics.Stillman alleges that executive producer Mark Burnett unduly influenced contestants Dirk Been and Sean Kenniff to switch their votes in order to save 72-year-old Rudy Boesch, the old curmudgeon former Navy SEAL who made it to the final four.”Burnett believed that Boesch … had the type of demeanor and gave the type of sound-bites that played well to a television audience,” Stillman’s suit charges. “The producers of ‘Survivor’ engaged in a scheme for the purpose of prearranging or predetermining its outcome, by influencing, persuading or intimidating contestants to cast votes.”In a USA Today story, Kenniff rejected Stillman’s version of his meeting with Burnett. “That never happened. He did say, ‘Vote your conscience,’ but I didn’t feel that was coercion,” Kenniff said. CBS has denied the charges and have called Stillman’s lawsuit “frivolous and groundless.””‘Survivor’ has received more press and public scrutiny than any show in recent television history,” a spokesman said. “Its creative integrity has remained intact throughout. We are confident that the courts, as well as ‘Survivor’ viewers, will see the case as utterly without foundation.” Stillman is seeking restitution for lost prize money and $75,000 for her expenses. Stillman is also demanding punitive damages to go along with a judgment declaring “Survivor” a fraud.Eminem perturbs British activists Gay rights activists in England accused white rap megastar Eminem of promoting prejudice against homosexuals with the various and sundry comments he has made.Outrage member Peter Tatchell ironically attacked Eminem’s sexuality in a statement to the media, according to Reuter’s.”It is easy to imagine Eminem as a woman-hating, repressed gay man,” Tatchell said in a statement. “He appears to be very insecure about his sexual identity. His homophobic jibes help make bigotry cool and acceptable.”The statement was timed to coincide with Eminem’s British tour. The edgy and controversial rap star is flying to England this week to perform a series of concerts for British audiences.Tatchell told Reuters in a telephone interview that gay activists wanted to protest Eminem’s homophobia “but he is deliberately avoiding public engagements in order to deny us a chance to confront him.””It is very difficult to do anything at the concerts as security is so tight,” Tatchell said. While Eminem’s lyrics have created controversy in the United States — San Francisco-based Family Violence Prevention Fund, an anti-violence group, has launched a “No to Eminem” campaign to keep him off the Grammy Awards ceremony — the English have organized their own grassroots movement to ban the rapper.At Sheffield University, students have banned his songs and T-shirts as anti-gay. Students who show up wearing Eminem T-shirts or logos have been banned from attending the school’s disco. The radio station refused to play his music and the student newspaper was banned from printing reviews of his CDs or concerts.Sex and violence? U.S. TV wins againU.S. television has more sex and violence than ever. A new study shows that sexual content has increased in amount and fails to emphasize the need for safe sex, according to Reuters .The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that monitors social mores, said sexual content was featured in two-thirds of all television shows in the 1999-2000 season compared to about half in 1997-98. The study, called “Sex on TV: Content and Context,” was conducted by a University of California professor and examined 1,114 shows aired from Oct. 1999 to March 2000.The greatest increase in sexual content the study found was in situation comedies, where the share rose from 56 percent to 84 percent of all episodes. The study showed the amount of sexual content increased while the proportion of shows with safe-sex messages remained steady at 10 percent.”Every time there is sex on TV, there is an opportunity to deliver useful information to young people,” said Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Victoria Rideout. “While some shows are taking advantage of that opportunity, nine out of 10 are not.”

— Compiled by Greg Jerrett