Love is…. Unethical Edited by Whitney Edna Ibe

This article talks about the unethical ness of the Netflix phenomenon Love is Blind producers. 

The Netflix sensational love show “Love is Blind” just released their fourth season, which was filmed in May 2022 in Washington that had some unethical producers around the cast. 

“Love is Blind” has taken the world by storm and has the audience on the edge of their seats wondering which couples will say “I do” at the end of the show at the altar. Starting, the show has 30 attractive single people date each other for ten days and then pick the one that they have the most connection with to be engaged to if they want. If that didn’t seem crazy enough, they would do it without seeing each other's faces! To clarify, each person will go into a room called a pod with a comfortable couch and a brown notebook to talk to a potential significant other through a thick wall. Then, the couple will go on a trip to Mexico and return home to an apartment just for the two to live in while planning their wedding. Finally, about a month later, the couple will walk down the aisle toward each other at their wedding if they make it that far. 

Recently, some of the cast have come out on social media and other news sources revealing that the producers took unethical actions against them and that being on the show affected their mental and physical health. Think about it; you are stuck in this facility trying to meet the love of your life with 15 other girls that are also trying to get to know the love of their lives. It can become real catty real quick. 

A “Love is Blind”  cast member, Jeremy Hartwell, is suing Netflix and the producers (Kinetic Content) for a “string of labor-law violations, including fostering ‘inhumane working conditions’ and paying cast members less than minimum wage.” Hartwell, who was in the second season but did not have much screen time, called out the producers for “plying the cast with alcohol and depriving them of food and water.”Weirdly, the cast members were only paid a flat rate of $1,000 a week while working and filming over 0-hour days for about a month or two. The producers of the show allergy internationally mistreated the cast to make them hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making,” said attorney Chantal Payton of Payton Employment Law. This L.A.-based firm is representing Hartwell.

INewach new season, the potential contestants must pass a psychological screening to appear on the show. According to Business Insider, season 2 contestant Danielle Ruhl exclaimed that she was surprised and shocked that she passed the psychology evaluation because she talked about a past suicide attempt. Unfortunately, Ruhl sadly said that she was put under “emotional warfare” as the producers coasted her into continuing on the show after a panic attack. It is important to note that if a cast member left the show before they were allowed, they would have to pay $50,000. 

“I kept telling them, ‘I don’t trust myself. I’ve tried committing suicide before. I’m having suicidal thoughts. I don’t think I can continue in this.'”

Unexpectedly, Ruhl continued to go through with the show until the very end, marrying Nick Thompson and then divorcing him a year later, probably because she did not have $50,000 to pay for the production. 

Disgustingly, Ruhl can recall that she “fainted on set due to lack of food, water, and sleep. And instead of receiving medical attention, she was given a Covid test, and when it came back negative, producers immediately set her up with an on-camera interview.”

Moving on, Natalie Lee, a cast member for season two, commented on Iyanna McNeeley's TikTok, "We did not sign up for the extreme producer manipulation that [made] us feel crazy." Shockingly to many viewers, Lee made it to the altar but did not say “I do” to her ex-fiance, Shayne Jansen, and claimed that a producer urged her to get married to Shayne until another cast member stepped in and talked to her about her relationship.  

Generally speaking, the cast was underpaid, overworked, and didn’t receive the care they needed to stay healthy mentally or physically. As a significant screening company, Netflix, and a production company, Kinetic Content, should treat people with dignity and respect and not just treat them as puppets. As the show continues, it is not entirely out of pocket to believe that more controversial topics will merge on social media and other news sources, with more contestants speaking out against the unethical producers. Being on a reality tv show has to be challenging, but it shouldn’t be like this.

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