A “Love Is Blind” participant is suing the production companies behind the Netflix reality dating program over alleged s**ual assault, false imprisonment and negligence.
A female contestant Tran Dang — who filmed for the show’s currently airing fifth season but has not been featured in the episodes that have come out — filed a lawsuit against Kinetic Content and Delirium TV, alleging she was sexually assaulted on set by her then-fiancé, fellow participant Thomas Smith, and that producers did nothing to stop it.
In her lawsuit, Dang claimed that she was engaged to Smith during filming; however, neither was named when Netflix announced the Season 5 cast in September.
Following their designated time in the “pods” — where participants date and some get engaged, sight unseen — Dang claimed she and Smith flew to Mexico with the other engaged couples for their subsequent vacation.
Dang alleged that Smith sexually assaulted her while there in May 2022.
“Smith, and without Ms. Dang’s consent, forcefully groped her, exposed himself in the nude and repeatedly made s**ual contact over her express objections,” her suit read, noting that “because of [Kinetic Content and Delirium TV’s] 24-hour surveillance of cast members, most, if not all, of these traumatic acts were likely captured on film.”
Dang said she reported the alleged incident to an assistant producer whom she claimed “gaslighted her” by “implying that she was at fault for what had happened with Thomas Smith by not communicating effectively or somehow not taking the ‘relationship’ seriously.”
In response, “Love Is Blind” creator Chris Coelen claimed that he was never made aware of such an incident on the set of the Netflix series.
Coelen stated that he supports people who came forward about s**ual assault. However, he insisted that production was “never told that she felt unsafe or experienced any of the allegations that she made.”
