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Woman Says Seacrest Show Set Her Up

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A woman claims she was invited to a party for Ryan Seacrest Productions, where she was set up in a phony confrontation, "blindsided and forced against her will to play a demeaning and humiliating role in an episode of 'Shahs of Sunset,'" in which a cast member defamed her and tried to rip her top off.

A cast member also threw a glass of water in her face in a bogus confrontation set up to make her look like the "bad girl," Kathy Salem claims in Superior Court.

Salem sued Ryan Seacrest Productions, Ryan Seacrest, Bravo Media, and Berne Productions for fraud, defamation, negligent misrepresentation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Salem says she was invited to a party in late July, on Zeus Drive in Los Angeles, and when she got there, was told that the party would be taped for "Shahs of Sunset."

The complaint states: "Plaintiff was not allowed into the party until after she signed a one-page document which was the signature page of what she later found out was an alleged release. Plaintiff signed the one-page document without ever having been shown and without ever seeing the body of the alleged release. ...

"When plaintiff entered the party as one of numerous participants, she understood that she might be taped as one of the numerous partygoers in the background of an episode of 'Shahs of Sunset.' She did not understand that she might be blindsided and forced against her will to play a demeaning and humiliating role in an episode of 'Shahs of Sunset.'

"Towards the end of the party, while plaintiff was speaking with friends who had come to the party with her, one of the featured performers in 'Shahs of Sunset,' David Golshan, approached plaintiff and struck up a conversation with her.

"While she was conversing with Mr. Golshan, another member of the cast of 'Shahs

of Sunset,' Anita Gohari, interrupted their conversation and announced that she was engaged to Mr. Golshan and that plaintiff by speaking with Mr. Golshan was disrespecting her, Ms. Gohari.

"What developed was a bullying session wherein Mr. Golshan, Ms. Gohari and a third female cast member became verbally abusive to plaintiff and addressed her in an obscene manner.

"Then, after the verbal abuse, someone tried to strip plaintiff's top off and another cast member by the name of Reza threw a cup of water in plaintiff's face.

"Ultimately plaintiff came to understand that the entire confrontation was contrived to create a scene in 'Shahs of Sunset' which was being taped in its entirety. Plaintiff had unwittingly been cast as a 'bad girl' and the result was her being publicly humiliated and assaulted for the benefit of defendants and their production the 'Shahs of Sunset.'

"Presently 'Shahs of Sunset' is scheduled to air in February 2012. If 'Shahs of Sunset' airs the scene in which plaintiff is abused and assaulted on national television, plaintiff and her reputation will be irreparably damaged."

Salem adds: "Defendants had a duty to inform plaintiff that she would not merely be attending the party but that she would be verbally abused and physically assaulted as part of the production of 'Shahs of Sunset.'" (25)

She seeks rescission of the "release" she says she never saw, an injunction prohibiting publication of her assault, and damages of more than $100,000.

She is represented by Fredric Brandfon with the Law Offices of Barry K. Rothman.

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