As if Washington weren’t already inundated with reality TV show drama, there’s another reality show circus that could be coming to town, and this one’s sure to be a train wreck.
Jon Gosselin of TV’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8” was recently sued by TLC, which is owned by the Discovery Channel. Lucky for us, Discovery Talent Services is headquartered in Silver Spring, meaning that the legal proceedings are going to play out in Montgomery County.
Discovery has requested a jury trial and is suing Gosselin for breach of contract after Gosselin began making appearances on other TV shows, like “Entertainment Tonight,” and talking about his and Kate’s problems in the press — something he was only supposed to do if he received Discovery’s written consent.
Yeas & Nays talked to legal expert Greg Grant, who’s co-chairman of the Business Litigation and Employment Litigation groups at Shulman Rogers, based in Potomac. Grant is not affiliated with the Gosselin-Discovery case, but gave us the legal lowdown.
“Like with any of these cases they all could end in a lot of different ways,” Grant said. “This could be one of these protracted, uglier cases.”
The question involved in the case is fairly easy: Did Gosselin breach his contract with Discovery by soaking up every minute of his 15 minutes of fame? But Grant believes Gosselin would try to make it more about his family and his children and toy with the jury’s feelings.
“I don’t think his defense is about the agreement,” Grant said. “His defense is going to be about the emotional aspects, if you will.”
Then again, according to Grant, Discovery will try to make it very clear that an agreement is an agreement, which could work well with a level-headed Maryland jury.
“I think our juries are pretty conservative, I think they hold people responsible,” he concluded.
