Limousine chauffeur Fred Busby has filed suit in L.A. County Superior Court against
495 Productions (who, in addition to producing "Nail Files," also produces MTV's infamous brain-cell-killer "Jersey Shore"). He claims that 495 Productions aired footage of him suffering from diabetic shock without his permission and depicted him as being drunk.
Busby was driving celebrity nail diva
Katie Cazorla and the 495 Productions camera crew to LAX when he "felt his blood sugar levels dropping and started sweating and feeling disoriented."
According to the suit, the last thing Busby remembered was a passenger screaming, "Is this guy drunk?" He said that when he came to, the 495 cameraman asked him for permission to use the footage from the incident to which Busby "emphatically and unambiguously said, 'No.'"
Busby claims "Nail Files" aired the footage anyway violating his right to privacy.
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He insists that he never consented to be on the show, but
TMZ reported it has obtained a release form that appears to show Busby's signature.
The form states, among other things, "I recognize that my signature on this release is a condition of Company permitting me to be a guest/participant in the Programming or both."
Busby's lawyer told TMZ that his "client does not recall signing any such documents," and implied that Busby may have been "incapacitated" when he was asked to sign the release and thus it "would not be enforceable."
Busby wants unspecified damages, part of the show profits, and a judge to force the show to stop running the episode.
-- Michael Campos, LCT assistant editor
Print | posted on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 5:01 PM