Dallas Attorney Damon Mathias has recently filed a case on behalf of three sex workers who have made public allegations that 8 Minutes, an A&E reality television show, lied to the three women and failed to deliver on their promises. The lawsuit is against A&E and the production company Relativity Media.
8 Minutes was a show that followed Pastor Kevin Brown, a retired member of law enforcement who purportedly rescues women from sex work. During the episodes, Brown seeks out sex workers by posing as a client and offers them a way out. However, several women who were interviewed on the show claimed that the drama of 8 Minutes was contrived for the sake of thrills and dramatic tension.
Earlier in 2015, five women spoke to Buzzfeed News about how producers lied about getting the women help and protecting their privacy as a way of convincing them to interview for the show. One woman said she was told, “They will do whatever it takes to get you and your family back on their feet.” For her appearance in the show, she was given $250 compensation and promised that someone would be in contact with her; but after weeks of waiting, no assistance ever came. Other women asked for their faces to be blurred, but when they episodes broadcasted, their faces were not blurred.
The show only ran 5 episodes before it was canceled by A&E, but not before drawn public ridicule from sex worker advocates and women who appeared on the show. Mathias Raphael PLLC Accident & Injury Lawyers is representing Kamylla, Gina, and Jade in a lawsuit to seek justice on undelivered promises.