The 17th season of ABC's "The Bachelor" has ended, and producers have chosen ... settlement. At the beginning of the season, Sean Lowe was cast in the lead role, and "Reality" Steve Carbone was cast as the villain in a federal lawsuit that accused Carbone of attempting to induce contestants into breaching their confidentiality pledges.
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The lawsuit marked the second time that NZK Productions sued Carbone.
The first time came around the 16th season, and that too was settled. Then, weeks before the latest season premiered in January, Carbone posted spoilers on his website for the newest episodes of "The Bachelor," including the full names of the women eliminated from the competition. As a result, Carbone was charged with breaching the settlement agreement.
"Reality Steve" reacted with an anti-SLAPP motion, contending that the producers were using the court system improperly to interfere with his First Amendment rights.
His court papers also detailed the agreement that made the first lawsuit go away.
For five years from the time of the 2012 agreement, he was not to contact directly or indirectly any cast, crew or employees of "The Bachelor." But the agreement didn't explicitly bar him from being contacted by the cast, crew or employees. In such instances, he was to refrain from offering any financial incentives.
Carbone hasn't publicly revealed who has given him his scoops, and the latest lawsuit doesn't seem to have lasted long enough for producers to dig up such information in discovery.
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Of course, terms of the latest settlement have not been revealed. No word on what, if anything, Carbone gave to make the latest round of litigation go away. All the spoilermeister will say is that "the lawsuit has been amicably resolved."
From the archives of realitysteve.com, it appears that he reported that Lowe would be proposing to Catherine Giudici on November 26, 2012.
Last week, Carbone "confirmed" 13 of the 25 guys appearing on the coming season of "The Bachelorette" to premiere in May. The lawsuit is over, though. Until next season?
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