The A&E network and the Storage Wars production company are reportedly winning the early rounds in the lawsuit brought against them by former cast member and Costa Mesa thrift store king Dave Hester.
The ballcap-wearing hoarder known for his “YUUUP!” calls at storage locker auctions claims he was wrongfully terminated after three seasons on the popular “reality” show.
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But Deadline Hollywood reports Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson today tossed out the suit's unfair business practices claim and sided with the defendants when it came to Hester and his attorneys seeking an injunction to prevent production of the show as the case is heard. That, the judge agreed, would violate the First Amendment free speech rights of A&E and Original Productions, LLC.
Johnson also demanded Hester and his lawyers provide more information on the wrongful termination claim, giving them 20 days to amend their original complaint, part of which had alleged parts of the show are fake.
See also:
A&E Response Sounds Like Network Wants to Mothball Dave Hester's Storage Wars Lawsuit
Dave Hester, ex-Costa Mesa Thrift-Store Mogul, Sues TV's “Fake” Storage Wars for Firing Him
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.