‘Afflicted’ Topics Drop Defamation Lawsuit Towards Netflix; Alleged That Docuseries Painted Them As “Crazy Hypochondriacs” – Replace

UPDATED, 3:27 PM: A lawsuit filed towards Netflix by topics of its 2018 docuseries Troubled has been dropped after practically 4 years.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer filed courtroom papers Tuesday with Choose Armen Tamzarian asking that the case be dismissed with prejudice, that means it can’t be refiled. The courtroom papers don’t state why the case was not being pursued additional or whether or not a settlement was reached.

Claiming defamation, fraud and invasion of privateness, the go well with filed in August 2019 alleged that the plaintiffs had been duped by the streamer and different defendants into collaborating in “a salacious reality television program that questioned the existence of their chronic illnesses and portrayed them as lazy, crazy hypochondriacs and/or malingerers.”

The go well with additionally lists Doc Store Productions, sequence creator Dan Partland and different producers as defendants.

PREVIOUSLY, August 2019: Netflix is being sued for defamation, fraud and invasion of privateness by topics of its 2018 unscripted sequence Troubled about individuals with power sicknesses.

The 50-page grievance (learn it right here) was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court docket by defendants together with Jamison Hill, Pilar Olave, Jill Edelstein and Bekah Dinnerstein. Referred to within the go well with as “the Afflicted Four,” they declare they had been “duped by Plaintiffs into participating in a salacious reality television program that questioned the existence of their chronic illnesses and portrayed Plaintiffs as lazy, crazy, hypochondriacs and/or malingerers who were deserving of scorn and who in fact have received scorn and abuse because of Defendants’ cruel and duplicitous actions.”

Right here is the Netflix logline for the seven-episode sequence that premiered a 12 months in the past: “Baffling symptoms. Controversial diagnoses. Costly treatments. Seven people with chronic illnesses search for answers — and relief.” Watch the trailer right here.

The go well with additionally lists Doc Store Productions, sequence creator Dan Partland and different producers as defendants.

The plaintiffs declare the producers pitched Troubled to them as “a ‘Netflix documentary series’ that would help spread understanding of rare, but very real, chronic illnesses.” The go well with additionally alleges that they requested the producers whether or not their sicknesses — which vary from power fatigue syndrome to myalgic encephalomyelitis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis — can be portrayed as psychosomatic.

“In response, and at the behest of Defendants Partland and Netflix, the Afflicted Four were assured … that Afflicted would be a serious Netflix documentary, with science and interviews with experts in the field and that Afflicted would show the Afflicted Four’s lives and struggles with their illnesses through a ‘compassionate lens.’”

As an alternative, they declare, the defendants used “deceptive and unethical tricks to suggest that the Afflicted Four’s illnesses, which are documented by mainstream medical professionals, are “all in their heads.”

Attorneys Randall S. Leff and Russell M. Selmont of Ervin Cohen & Jessup in Beverly Hills are representing the plaintiffs within the case, which seeks unspecified damages and calls for a jury trial.