Despite getting engaged on “Love Is Blind” Season 5, there’s a reason Tran Dang and her former fiancé Thomas Smith do not appear in the Netflix series: Dang is suing the dating reality series’ production companies Kinetic Content and Delirium TV, citing sexual assault, false imprisonment and negligence.
In a joint statement received by TheWrap, both companies stated, “We support and stand with victims of sexual assault, but Ms. Dang’s claims against the producers are meritless.”
“We document the independent choices of adults who volunteer to participate in a social experiment. Their journey is not scripted, nor is it filmed around the clock,” the statement read. “We have no knowledge or control over what occurs in private living spaces when not filming, and participants may choose to end their journey at any time.”
“We take any and all concerns of our participants seriously and prioritize their well-being,” they continued. “Obviously, we cannot address undisclosed concerns, and throughout the time that Ms. Dang was involved in the production of ‘Love is Blind,’ she never informed the producers of any alleged wrongdoing of any kind. Nor did she choose to end her participation in the experiment. Instead, Ms. Dang continued in the experiment for weeks after the time her lawyers now claim an incident occurred. We deny and will vigorously defend the allegations against us.”
In her filing, obtained by TheWrap, Dang claimed that Smith sexually assaulted her on May 3, 2022. She detailed that Smith “forcefully groped her, exposed himself in the nude and repeatedly made sexual contact over her express objections.”
Dang said she “was baffled that no one had intervened to stop the harassment” and also claimed that an assistant producer “gaslighted” her and implied “that she was at fault for what had happened with Thomas Smith by not communicating effectively or somehow not taking the ‘relationship’ seriously.”
Dang’s suit goes on to state that she attempted to tell producers about the alleged assault a number of times before she decided to leave the show. Producers allegedly agreed she could exit, but asked her to film a scene in which she was told what to say. At that point, Dang decided to take her claim to court.
In addition to sexual assault, the filing alleged that Dang had to ask permission to use the restroom and “was prohibited from leaving her hotel room without express permission and kept under 24-hour surveillance.”
In a statement provided to TheWrap, Dang’s attorney Ben Allen said the following: “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. 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.”
In his own exclusive statement People, “Love Is Blind” creator Chris Coelen denied Dang’s claims against the show’s production team. He insisted that any accusation of sexual assault would have been taken seriously. “We have round-the-clock psychologists, a highly trained production team, we have a whole battalion of people who’s job it is to make sure that we prioritize our participant’s well-being.”
He also pushed back the idea that participants on the show are filmed 24 hours a day and added, “We are not mounting cameras in their personal living spaces. We don’t do that. We’re like a documentary. They are alone during periods of times, they are not under surveillance.”
Of the possibility that Dang was assaulted, Coelen said, “I’m not in a position to speculate about what happens with adults on their own time behind closed doors. I want to be really, really clear about that. I’m not saying her allegations of sexual assault are or are not true. I’m not in a position to say that.”
The final episodes of season 5 of “Love Is Blind” will be released on Netflix on Friday.
Representatives for Dang did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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