The popular Netflix dating show “Love Is Blind” is being sued for an alleged sexual assault incident that occurred during the latest season.
Contestant Tran Dang, who filmed but was not featured in any episodes of the fifth season, is suing both the production company Kinetic Content and Delirium TV regarding the alleged incident.
In the lawsuit, obtained by entertainment news site Deadline, Dang claims she became engaged to fellow contestant Thomas Smith and was sexually assaulted around May 2022 while the show was being filmed.
The lawsuit states Dang was “incessantly groped” and Smith exposed himself without Dang’s consent.
It also claims Smith allegedly “forcibly and repeatedly made sexual contact” with Dang with “most if not all of these traumatic acts [being] filmed by the production crew and within their knowledge.”
When brought to the attention of production, they allegedly brushed it off and claimed it was “a lack of attraction.”
The suit also alleges Dang was held against her will during filming.
It claims she was “unable to exercise her will in going anywhere she was lawfully allowed to go.”
“The false imprisonment took place at the on premises in the exclusive control of Defendants Delirium TV and Kinetic Content.”
Dang’s attorney Benjamin W. Allen told 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.”
Allen added, “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 creator of the hit dating show, Chris Coelen, also spoke with People on the lawsuit and denied the claims.
“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 stated.
“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.”
The outlet reported Kinetic Content and Delirium TV released a joint statement claiming the claims are “meritless.”
