'Storage Wars' Staged, Fired Star Claims in Lawsuit

[dr.strangelove]

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/storage-wars-staged-fired-star-claims-lawsuit-193712014.html

"Storage Wars" star David Hester says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was fired after complaining that the reality show is staged.

In the lawsuit, Hester contends that the producers of the hit A&E series routinely plant valuable items in the storage lockers seen on the show. Competitors place bids on the lockers without knowing what is inside them, hoping to come across forgotten treasures.
_________

While I am a fan of the series, I always thought it was staged and edited heavily. Its a fun show to watch though.

[barbtries]

1. i can't stand even the thought of watching it.

or thinking about all the people who put their meager treasure in storage only to lose it to a stranger for a few bucks. it just kind of breaks my heart to even think about it.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I never doubted that precious items were "planted" stragegically in some of the units.

And with editing, it gave the appearance that in every fifth unit you'd find a rare and valuable (fill in blank).

I don't begrudge their wanting to spice up the show, but faced with the accusation I wish they would fess up about it.

Dave Hester I will not miss, I think he models poor human behavior by making others' lives miserable.

I don't think it's very nice, we have well enough of that already.


~Deja Vu!~



PS, Hester was paid a shitload of money:

Hester's salary and other compensation? $25,000 per episode for a guarantee of 26, plus a monthly stipend of $2,500 AND an expense account of $124,500 plus a $25,000 signing bonus.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Barry, Nooooooo! Say it ain't so!

The only harm would have been if people spent money on storage units thinking it would pan out the same for them.

[pipi_k]

6. I love Barry, and...

am always amused when he never manages to find anything worth much money.

Well, except he has found furs, but he has ethics about furs and doesn't deal in them.

Anyway, I suspect the same about a lot of those "reality" shows. Mr Pipi loves "Hardcore Pawn", which I suspect isn't quite as exciting as the show makes it out to be what with people going in and causing outrageous scenes. I suspect the producers hire people off the streets to go in and act like jerks every so often just to spice things up.

That being said, I still think Les Gold is an asshole. He's always going to kick someone's ass (easy to say with a monster linebacker type standing behind him). He can never decide what he wants from his kids...one day he's telling them to take the initiative and act like co owners, next day he's putting them down for doing the same thing. He tells them not to argue with the customers, then he argues with the customers.

Psychopath.

[MineralMan]

4. Ye-e-ep!

[Lokey]

20. I was wondering

if he was the Ye-e-ep guy. I have only watched a couple of times but listening to him bid like that drove me nuts.

[MineralMan]

21. Yes, that is the one.

[MineralMan]

5. Anybody who has actually bid at storage unit auctions

knows that show is bullshit. In fact, the show screwed up that opportunity big-time, by bringing new people with inflated expectations to the auctions. At most storage unit auctions, the question is almost always, "Why in the Hell did someone pay money to store that crap?" The show is bogus, and always has been. Here's something to notice if you watch it:

The show always shows the places where the "bidders" go to get their finds evaluated or purchased. Those places get publicity, and I've always suspected that they're also the source for the amazing finds in the lockers. The stuff gets picked out, hidden in the locker, and then taken back to the source for "evaluation."

All of that said, I still get a kick out of watching the shows once in a while.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. one of my worse summer jobs...

Was cleaning out the shit out of storage lockers, the only thing going for it was it was a ten minute walk from my house and my parents refused to drive me anywhere so I could earn minimum wage. There were no auctions, just a 20 foot dumpster that was replaced every Friday.

Musty fleabag furniture made up 75% of the junk we hauled away, occasionally there were sporting goods or musical instruments or guns. When we did find stuff that wasn't obviously garbage it would be saved a few years just in case somebody actually came looking for it. Any unit belonging to a military member was left alone paid or not.

My biggest catch was about a dozen traffic cones and a broken slot-car racing set.

[hibbing]

7. I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!

Hi,
I'm with my brother in law on all these "reality" shows in thinking they are all staged. I do agree that some of them are fun to watch. Just don't venture to the Housewives shows or Shah on Sunset or whatever that seriously fucked up steaming pile of idiocy is.

Peace

[Grantuspeace]

8. Outside of dying......

who would abandon a storage locker full of priceless items?

[fleur-de-lisa]

15. Sometimes it's not by choice . . .

My daughter and her boyfriend moved to Europe a few years ago. Just before the move, they stored a lot of their belongings in a New York storage unit. Boyfriend's company was moving him to Europe to open a new art gallery for them. The company agreed to ship daughter and boyfriends stuff to them in Europe.

Long story short: After the kids moved to Europe, the company decided not to open the new gallery. They paid the boyfriend for about 6 months of work, doing oddball stuff for them, but never shipped them their stuff. Then the company folded. Daughter and boyfriend couldn't retrieve their belongings, even when boyfriend moved back to New York. It was tied up in some legal battle.

Daughter and boyfriend had several mopeds, a lot of clothing, some other personal items and some of their original artwork in storage (both are artists).

Coincidentally, someone from the show Storage Wars recently contacted my daughter through her web page. They purchased the contents of the storage unit at auction and wanted to use some of her art work on the show. They said she could get all of her belongings back if she agreed to let them use this one particular piece.

She told them, not no, but 'HELL NO'! I love my kid!

[Kingofalldems]

9. I always wonder why no one in the crowd ever

gets a locker.

I would love to go to that guy Dennis' antique shop though.

[pipi_k]

14. Unless it's a complete

and total scam, they probably do, but those times aren't shown.

Kind of like how it takes 1,000 hours of filming to get 5 minutes worth of wildlife/animal footage suitable for a documentary...

[lost-in-nj]

23. They do

Sometimes they will say there are 10 or what ever amount of lockers are for sale. And they only show 3 or 4 on the show the regulars get



Lost

[LynneSin]

10. I love the show but you know that there is a bunch of editing

I mean that is my expectation for ANY reality TV show - what you see and what really happens are usually 2 very different things. I don't watch the show because I want to take up Storage Auction buying, I watch it because it's entertaining.

I know one of the common things said by anyone cast as the 'villian' on a Reality Show usually say that they were highly edited. Same thing with rivalries created - editors just pick out the few fights they get on film and ignore everything else.

Dave Hester has been the villian since day #1 and to be honest I don't think they have to do much editing to make that happen. And personally if he leaves the show good riddance.

As for the makers of the show stocking the lockers with rare finds here's my thoughts. The show is filmed primarily in the LA area so I wouldn't be too shocked about some of the finds. If you think about it, the California housing market fell into the pits so alot of people had no choice but to downsize and put their valuables into lockers. So for those big lockers filled with household goods there's no shock with the finds in there. As for the rare items, again same thing - for many people they had to rely on storage lockers to protect what valuables they have. I once saw a locker on that show that looked like it was pretty much emptied out but Hester still found something of reasonable value in it. Perhaps the previous owner cleaned out the locker and overlooked that item?

[Kingofalldems]

11. I'd like to know who is taking his place

[LynneSin]

17. I hope not that baseball umpire...he seems like a bit of a douchebag

He got all pissy when he thought that Auctioneer Dan was giving hints to Barry Weiss and some of the other show regulars.

[Kingofalldems]

18. That guy! The auctioneer and his wife tore into him

on the Dec. 4 show. Best scene ever. He is more annoying than Dave.

[trueblue2007]

12. bummer ... hubby and i like this show

[Hayabusa]

29. So? Watch it anyway.

Someone already brought up pro wrestling, albeit in a joking manner. Almost every person who watches it knows that it's staged, but doesn't care. If Storage Wars is entertaining to you, keep watching it. I know I will.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. Ok, so the show is staged and deliberately contentious.

It's still not AS staged or AS deliberately contentious as a Fox News panel discussion.

[hobbit709]

16. The biggest asshole on the show is whining?

[TeamPooka]

27. yuuup

[blueknight]

19. i have a good friend

who has been buying storage lockers for years. he told me this show ruined it for all them guys. he said units he used to get for 50 bucks, now go for 500. he said there were times when he would be the only person at the auction! now every week he says there are 30 or 40 people

[Recursion]

24. Nonsense. Next you'll be saying pro wrestling is

*of course* it's staged. Or do they manage to each pick the one locker with exactly one appraisable item in it each week?

[Grammy23]

25. This is a true story...and I'd post a link to the newspaper story if I knew how.

Recently a guy here in Pensacola bought his very first storage locker. Had been thinking of doing it for a long time and finally decided to go for it. He won and when his locker was opened for him to "retrieve" the contents, it turned out to be full of human body parts. No lie. They were in various storage containers like mayonnaise jars and Rubbermaid bins. As it turned out the previous owner had been employed by the coroner's office and worked with the medical examiner. There were hearts, livers, limbs etc. Not a pretty sight. Not well preserved either. Just in some formaldehyde but not professionally preserved.

I guess you could say like Charlie Brown, "I got a rock." when he opened that locker.

The previous owner person lost his job when it was revealed what he had been doing.....no, there is no suspicion of foul play, just a weird ass assistant medical examiner. If memory serves me, he was doctor, too. I think he has been charged with something but nothing to do with bumping off the owners of the body parts.

So that goes to show you that you could never imagine what you'll get when you bid on a storage locker.

Oh and like most (if not all) reality shows, Storage Wars probably is staged. They have to control what happens to make it more interesting. And to think many people tune in regularly to find out what happens next.....little realizing the whole thing is manipulated from start to finish. Real life (like what happened here in Pensacola) is far more interesting. LOL

[WCGreen]

26. I am shocked that a reality show is staged....

[Incitatus]

28. This is news?

Oh, it's a Yahoo article.

[bamacrat]

30. Of course its staged.

When I lived in Dallas there was a storage facility next to where I worked and they came and were filming the series there a few times. One of my employees and I went over to talk to them. They asked if we wanted to be on the show. I said I don't want to buy a storage unit, he said you don't have to, just sign a release and "bid". I declined.

[datasuspect]

31. these stupid fucking shows have fucked up auctions in general

too many neophytes with a head full of teevee nonsense bidding too high and generally "doing it wrong."