Why did Jeremy Hartwell sue Love Is Blind? Production lawsuits explained

Former Love is Blind contestant Jeremy Hartwell has sued Netflix and the Kinetix Content production company after experiencing “inhumane working conditions” while filming.

Love Is Blind became a fast hit after its premiere in 2019, spawning several spin-offs within a few years. Viewers loved the show concept which let people fall in love emotionally without seeing each other face to face.

However, the show faced many legal allegations from its past contestants regarding work exploitation, negligence, and sexual assault. This included the Season 5 cast member Tran Dang, Season 2’s Nick Thompson, Danielle Ruhl, and Briana Holmes.

Jeremy Hartwell was a contestant in Love Is Blind Season 2 in 2022 and he has sued the Netflix reality show along with Kinetic Content production company.

Love is Blind contestant filed a class action lawsuit for Love Is Blind

Netflix

Jeremy Hartwell joined the show as a 36-year-old single director and entrepreneur with a background in law. Unfortunately for Jeremy, he wasn’t able to find his ideal match in the pods.

After filming ended, Jeremy expressed open discontent with the ‘hellish’ work conditions provided for the reality stars. He sued Netflix and the Love is Blind production company under the California Superior Court in LA. His attorney was Chantal Payton of Payton Employment Law firm and he filed the lawsuit as a ‘class action on behalf of all participants in Love Is Blind and other non-scripted productions.’

According to many statements from past participants, they had signed up to film the show 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They were expected to fall in love within 20 days and get engaged within 2 weeks. Participant Briana Holmes had to leave mid-season as she had a panic attack working under stress and in a compromised mental health care environment.

Jeremy said the participants were given ‘inhumane working conditions’, and it took him several weeks to recover from the sleep deprivation he faced while filming Love Is Blind.

The reality star expressed that he was deprived of social connection while filming. He said, “This made cast members hungry for social connections and altered their emotions and decision-making.”

In his lawsuit, Harwell also claimed that, although each person appearing on the dating reality show was offered a $1,000 weekly stipend, in real terms that money translated to about $7.14 an hour, which is below California’s $15 minimum wage (where pod filming took place).

“There was nothing in the contract that could have prepared anybody for the experience we were put through,” Hartwell later told the press. It’s reported that the contracts state any cast members who drop out of the show without permission from producers have to pay $50,000 in damages to Kinetic Content and that couples must attend their wedding – even if they didn’t want to get married.

It was revealed in May 2024 that the streaming service has proposed a settlement of over one million dollars ($1,395,000 to be specific) for the class action lawsuit. It has not been officially instated. Jeremy’s Instagram profile page has been private throughout this lawsuit.