Lawsuit claims 'Storage Wars' show is rigged
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some of the valuables found hidden in abandoned lockers on A&E's "Storage Wars" have been added by producers to deceive viewers, a former cast member of the show claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
David Hester's suit claims producers have added a BMW Mini and newspapers chronicling Elvis Presley's death to lockers in order to build drama for the show and that his complaints about the practices led to his firing.
Hester is seeking more than $750,000 in his wrongful termination, breach of contract and unfair business practices lawsuit. A&E Television Network declined comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
"Storage Wars" follows buyers who bid for abandoned storage lockers hoping to find valuables tucked inside.
"A&E regularly plants valuable items or memorabilia," the lawsuit states. Hester's suit claims he was fired from participating in the series' fourth season after expressing concerns that manipulating the storage lockers for the sake of the show was illegal.
He claims that producers stopped adding items to his units after his initial complaints but continued the practice for other series participants. The lawsuit alleges entire units have been staged and the practice may violate a federal law intended to prevent viewers from being deceived when watching a show involving intellectual skills.
"Storage Wars" depicts buyers having only a few moments to look into an abandoned unit before deciding on whether to bid on it at auction. The lawsuit claims some of the auction footage on the show is staged.
Hester, known as "The Mogul" on the show, has been buying abandoned storage units and re-selling their contents for 26 years, according to the suit.
Nielsen Co. has ranked "Storage Wars" among cable television's top-ranked shows several times since its 2010 debut.
David Hester's suit claims producers have added a BMW Mini and newspapers chronicling Elvis Presley's death to lockers in order to build drama for the show and that his complaints about the practices led to his firing.
Hester is seeking more than $750,000 in his wrongful termination, breach of contract and unfair business practices lawsuit. A&E Television Network declined comment, citing the pending lawsuit.
"Storage Wars" follows buyers who bid for abandoned storage lockers hoping to find valuables tucked inside.
"A&E regularly plants valuable items or memorabilia," the lawsuit states. Hester's suit claims he was fired from participating in the series' fourth season after expressing concerns that manipulating the storage lockers for the sake of the show was illegal.
He claims that producers stopped adding items to his units after his initial complaints but continued the practice for other series participants. The lawsuit alleges entire units have been staged and the practice may violate a federal law intended to prevent viewers from being deceived when watching a show involving intellectual skills.
"Storage Wars" depicts buyers having only a few moments to look into an abandoned unit before deciding on whether to bid on it at auction. The lawsuit claims some of the auction footage on the show is staged.
Hester, known as "The Mogul" on the show, has been buying abandoned storage units and re-selling their contents for 26 years, according to the suit.
Nielsen Co. has ranked "Storage Wars" among cable television's top-ranked shows several times since its 2010 debut.
Of course it's rigged! And I bet storage places LOVE it! Can you imagine how many more people are suckered into buying other people's junk because of this show?!
 @tats76 That is the true fraud, everybody running out to these auctions thinking they are going to find that treasure.  A sucker born every minute.
Brandy makes being a witch with a b so hot
On the show he liked to play the spoiler, whiner, baby, and a**hole to the others. Looks like even without him on the show he is still playing the baby. I do have a hard time believing that they can find all these expensive goods every week week after week. I am sure they are messing around some with some of the storage units to make things look better as well. If anyone believes that what goes on in that show is real should stop over to my house. I have a hell of a deal on a couple of bridges in Tacoma with spare parts below one of them.
Reality isn't what it used to be...
99% of abandoned storage lockers contain nothing but junk. Still a better rate of return than reality TV shows.
What they don't show is a majority of storage units sell for 5-20$ and are full of garbage or empty. They said before it can take hundreds of units and weeks of auctions just to get enough material for a few episodes. In the 90's I thought the sitcom was the end of dumbing down television, then in the 2000's the fake reality shows took it down even further.
 @SkaBob I am with you. What is on TV now days is "fodder for the brain dead" and nothing more. Travel channel, History channel, and National Geographic have more entertaining things without all the crappy hype that these stations throw at us now days. I have even gotten tired of all the babble on the NASCAR races. I only will watch recordings of it so I can speed past all the crap and adds that we now have to put up with.
Most if not all of these shows are rigged. Please you really didn't know that.
Oh well, at least the shows about towing are real, right? (moan)
 @SgtPepperSpray I know. That repo show is completely staged, they even put a small notification in the title but some people still say it's real. If a real recovery company got into knock out fist fights picking up vehicles, they would be sued out of existence in a month. That's why you pull in at 3am, use the lift controls from inside the cab of the truck (dont even get out) and drive away 20 seconds later. Quick, efficient and boring.
For those that haven't figure it out yet - the auction part is real. Â Then after the auction is over, the producers plant something interesting in the unit. Â Have you ever noticed that whenever they find something in an otherwise worthless locker, that it was miraculously hidden in an out of the way location? Â Real lockers in reality are full of junk. Â Don't you think that most owners would have taken anything of real value out of there first when they realized that they wouldn't be able to pay the bills?
Stopped watching Storage Wars some time ago.. we have been watching Hardcore Pawn...the set ups there are so obvious. Like the time an old piece of surveying equipment was purchased and no one thought it would sell...then OMG some guy and his wife just RANDOMLY walk in, (the same day) and Ashley asks him what he does for a living....OH? you're a land surveyor? .... Â Ya it is that bad. Why are reality shows so freaking fake ?? Â
Is reality just not real enough anymore?
If you didn't already know this, you're pretty much an idiot.Â
AS A BUYER of storage units prior to the show, we figured it was staged, there is no way to find so many great things all at once. We use to be able to purchase units cheap and resell and make a little cash, now the price of units is so high with everyone trying to make a million bucks off someone elses junk that it isn't even worth it. I hope Dave (Mr...yuuuuuupppp_)sues and wins. He is a jerk on the show, but at least he is sticking up for others who do buy units and use them to supply their 2nd hand stores. I hope the price of units go back down and all the people who got into it because of the show, go back home to their couches...
The BEST news about this article is that Dave Hester got fired! His selfish, egotistical jackass personality is the best reason to get rid of him. He's disgusting.
Yes, I sometimes watch the show, and SURE, it's rigged.....the units, all the extras, and the cast. Every so called reality show is highly staged and rigged. And, it's all a pretty sick form of so-called TV entertainment.
 @Yadayada How do you know that his portrayal as a jerk is not a setup?
Storage wars?
Throw me a bone here. WTH?
 @bobalouie It's a reality show.  As the article says, "Storage Wars" depicts buyers having only a few moments to look into an abandoned unit before deciding on whether to bid on it at auction.  They have a few people look at an abandoned storage unit, then they auction off the contents of the storage unit to the people who looked in them, and then the show follows the winner searching through the unit seeing what stuff was inside.
This is just sad.....
Ummmm.... it is "reality" tv. Â Don't be a poor loser Dave. Â Yuuuuuuup!
Staged? Hell - I think it's totally scripted - that should be the REAL outrage. "Reality" show my arse. Stop supporting this crap by watching it. Same goes for all the pawn shows...
Quite frankly, Barry Weiss seems to be the only person on that show who isn't a total jerk. It's been pretty clear they've had Dave Hester on the show as the designated "villain" from day 1, and Jarrod and Brandi just seem like a big ugly divorce waiting to happen, and Darrell Sheets is probably lucky they don't do steroid testing on reality shows.
@Vexorg If you read Barry's bio, he has never really done this before and his friend who is the producer asked him to be on the show because of his crazy/eccentric personality would add to the show. He is a milionaire who donates everything he "buys" on the show.
 @Andy78  @Vexorg I would probably watch a "Barry" show.Â
And I'm gonna claim that no one really cares because technically why does it matter? Especially since no one's really surprised by it. There's a shocker!
Give it up David. It's just a T.V. show. Don't act like you were part of anything intellectual. No different than professional wrestling.
The headline should have said 'Spoiler Alert'Â LOL
Reality shows are staged? YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!
Is this the type of shows that people are into today? I guess no one has anything better with their time but to watch t.v. If the show is rigged, that just means they knew what they are doing to keep the viewers. For this Dave guy he sure did not care until the checks were no longer coming. People do what they have to do to bring in customers, viewers, etc. Its up to the customer/viewer to look into what ever it is that will have their time or money. It is your investment, either by money or time, use it smartly. If you buy into it and give them time or money, that is all on you.Â
 @Just my say I pondered the same thing but an acquaintance in the industry explained it to me like this: "they are not going away (reality shows) because they are dirt cheap to make".
I agree with the other posters here that if you don't think that this show, and all the others like it, aren't at least partially staged, then you have blinders on.
What kind of profession is that anyway where your income is based on raiding other people's stuff like vultures?
They're not raiding other peoples stuff. The "people" to which you refer gave up their rights to the stuff when they quit paying rent on the storage lockers. The storage company sells the contents of the defaulted locker in an attempt to recover lost rental fees. The stuff has to be disposed of so the locker can be rented to people that actually pay rent. THis is mearly the most profitable and expiditious method of disposal. They aren't vultures, and nobody is losing anything asside from the facility owner losing out on rent.
Yuuup!
oh what a shock a "reality" show that's faked ha ha ha
All these shows are rigged. I found the same guy ( large guy with a thin mustache ) on south beach tow and caught red handed acting as a perp. He even appeared on operation repo.
Of course its fake! Nobody can be that "lucky" as much as they are. For anyone who watched it that actually believed it was real......well I have some ocean front property in Montana to sell you.... Not only that, I'm glad Hester is gone. My husband and sons like to watch that show and then walk around imitating his stupid "YYYYEEEEPPPP" just to bug me.
Dave Hester is a jerk. Of course it's rigged. It's on TV and anyone that thinks "reality" TV is actual reality needs to have their heads checked. He probably got fired from the show cause he's a snotty prick.
You probably need a wake up call if you think reality shows aren't staged. You probably need a wake up call if you watch them, for that matter.
Of course the show is rigged. Â Why would a $4000 bronze statue show up in a locker with otherwise worthless junk?
"[A] show involving intellectual skills"??
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