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Lawsuit Against MTV Reality Show Jersey Shore Moves Forward

By Kamika Dunlap on May 06, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The MTV reality show "Jersey Shore" is facing more legal trouble as a judge has allowed a lawsuit involving the show's producers to proceed.

The suit alleges that the producers engaged in a "criminal enterprise" by profiting from airing fights on the show that cast members deliberately provoked, the Associated Press reports.

As previously discussed, drunken brawls and raucous bar fights were running themes on the show.

The MTV reality show chronicles the lives of a group of party-loving 20-somethings living in the same house on a New Jersey beach

The judge denied a motion to dismiss the claim that the defendants' conduct violated New Jersey's racketeering statute.

Traditionally, racketeering involves obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by organized crime.

Many of these laws allow for the confiscation and seizure of the criminal organization's legitimate enterprise assets, and are often used against known "organized crime" groups. The goal is to cripple the operation financially, and cut off sources of cash that support on-going criminal activity.

Racketeering, as it is commonly understood, has always co-existed with business. In the U.S., the term racketeer has been synonymous with members of organized-crime operations.

In this case, the lawsuit, filed in March, seeks unspecified monetary damages for three clients of New Jersey attorney Eugene LaVergne.

The suit seeks damages on behalf of the three plaintiffs who were involved in a drunken altercation with cast member Ronnie Magro.

MTV has not responded to the pending lawsuit. It also is unknown at this time whether this lawsuit will impact the second season of Jersey Shore.

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