“Love Is Blind” creator Chris Coelen is addressing a contestant suing the reality dating show’s production company over claims of assault, false imprisonment and negligence.
Tran Dang, a contestant who filmed for Season 5 of the show but did not appear in the episodes, is suing Kinetic Content, claiming that the production company did nothing to stop her from being sexually assaulted on set by her former fiancé, People reported Friday.
According to the complaint obtained by the outlet, Dang also claims she was falsely imprisoned while filming and producers acted with negligence.
Coelen reportedly says while he supports people coming forward about sexual assault, he insists production was “never told that she felt unsafe or experienced any of the allegations that she made.”
“If anybody ever came to us and said they felt unsafe in any way, we would immediately remove them from the experiment and talk to them, and try to get to the bottom of it,” Coelen told People.
“Unfortunately, in this case, that kind of sentiment was never addressed to us in any way, nor was any alleged wrongdoing brought to our attention ever.”
Coelen added that Dang’s false imprisonment claims are “preposterous” as cast members are always welcome to leave the show, as modeled by previous contestants in recent seasons.
Kinetic Content, LLC and Delirium TV, LLC echoed that idea in a joint statement to The Post.
“We support and stand with victims of sexual assault, but Ms. Dang’s claims against the producers are meritless. We document the independent choices of adults who volunteer to participate in a social experiment. Their journey is not scripted, nor is it filmed around the clock. We have no knowledge or control over what occurs in private living spaces when not filming, and participants may choose to end their journey at any time,” their statement reads.
“We take any and all concerns of our participants seriously and prioritize their well-being. Obviously, we cannot address undisclosed concerns, and throughout the time that Ms. Dang was involved in the production of ‘Love Is Blind,’ she never informed the producers of any alleged wrongdoing of any kind. Nor did she choose to end her participation in the experiment.”
It concludes, that “Instead, Ms. Dang continued in the experiment for weeks after the time her lawyers now claim an incident occurred. We deny and will vigorously defend the allegations against us.”
The Post has contacted Coelen and Kinetic Content for comment.
Dang’s lawsuit claims that she was “aggressively recruited” by Kinetic Content to participate in the series where the cast was “intentionally sequestered for two weeks” in the pods, without their cell phones, passports, wallets or communicative devices.
Her filing claims Dang needed permission to do “virtually anything, including use the restroom,” and was prohibited from leaving her hotel room without express permission and kept under 24-hour surveillance.”
“Over multiple days of filming in multiple venues, including Houston, [Kinetic Content and Delirium TV] provided the cast members with alcohol—but limited food,” the lawsuit reads. “This combination was designed to encourage them to engage in striking conversations and actions that would increase viewer ratings. While on set, for up to 18 hours per day, [Kinetic Content and Delirium TV] required Ms. Dang to request permission to do virtually anything, including use the restroom. She was prohibited from leaving her hotel room without express permission and kept under 24-hour surveillance.”
Coelen however maintains that the allegations are without merit.
“Those allegations are 100 percent false and defamatory. It’s not true in any way … we don’t push alcohol. Everyone has consistent and regular access to food and water,” he says. “In the pods, they’re on a 68,000-square-foot sound stage, where it’s dark, there’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of equipment, and even for me, it’s very confusing to get around from place to place,” he explains. “Because of that, and because we want to protect the integrity of the experiment, we do not want them wandering around by themselves, and wandering over into [the other sex’s] living quarters, because sometimes people are tempted to do that — we want to avoid that.”
“So if they need to go to the bathroom, they tell us and we have someone escort them to the bathroom,” he adds. “That is how it works in the pods. When they are out of the pods, they can go to the bathroom whenever they want.”
However, as Dang’s attorney Benjamin W. Allen argued to People, “The producers are throwing money at the problem by spending an inordinate amount of money on losing legal positions that do nothing but delay the parties from having their day in Court. They lost on three distinct legal issues before the trial court and then filed three separate appeals to multiply the proceedings we have to wade through before finally trying this case.”
He continued: “But we are confident that Ms. Dang’s position will be vindicated once we get there and are committed to seeing it through all of the way. We have to hold the show producers accountable. We have an ethical duty to our client to do so, but also feel a moral obligation to the next generation of reality show participants.”
The Post has contacted Coelen and Allen for comment.
Season 5 of “Love Is Blind” is now streaming on Netflix.