Woman settles lawsuit with producers of reality show Shahs of Sunset after claiming she was forced to play 'the bad girl'

 

It hasn't even aired yet but Ryan Seacrest's new reality show Shahs of Sunset is already shrouded in controversy.
Kathy Salem has reportedly just settled a lawsuit she filed against the reality show, after claiming she was forced to play the bad girl in the hotly-anticipated program.
She is said to not be receiving any of the $100,000 she was said to be demanding and producers, including Seacrest, have agreed to pull her footage from the first episode, sources told website TMZ.

Controversy: Kathy Salem has reportedly just settled the lawsuit she filed against reality show Shahs of Sunset

Salem allegedly sued claiming she was humiliated by the group of young, rich Persians who are set to be the stars of the show.
Salem reportedly insisted she was 'forced against her will' to play the 'bad girl,' which will only serve to support the theory that such programmes are scripted.
The lawsuit revolved around an incident at a VIP Hollywood party in July, according to TMZ.
Salem claimed she signed a waiver before entering the gathering and understood she would appear on the show, however 'she did not understand that she might be blind sided and forced against her will to play a demeaning and humiliating role.'

Reality show behemoth: Ryan Seacrest, here in West Hollywood earlier this month, is already having troubles with his new reality show

She claimed when she was inside the party, she was confronted by the stars of the show 'who began to bully her and become verbally abusive' because she was talking to a man who was allegedly engaged.'
Salem said it heated up quickly and that she was attacked by various people, one of whom tried to rip her top off while another who threw a cup of water in her face.
The suit also stated that Salem knew the show was set to air in February, and that she wanted Ryan to pull the footage.

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Bravo boss Andy Cohen said of the show in development: 'The series follows a group of young Persian-American friends - and this is a community that exists all over the place, but if you live in LA you know that the Persian-American community is really strong.'
'It’s really family oriented. It’s really affluent. This is a really cool, fun, funny group of people you brought to us Ryan, and I’m hoping that this is going to be our next big docu-series, and something that we’re going to be doing for a while!'
He added: 'They also spend a lot of money. You know its great because Bravo is always putting a spotlight on different affluent lifestyles. This is a group of people that doesn’t exist on television anywhere, and that is another reason that I’m excited to do the show. Its new, and different.'