MTV Paying Millions After T.I. Shows Dead Body on TV

 

We’ve all had the same thought when Survivor characters battle for a reward or Road Rulers skydive over the Grand Canyon: they won’t show it if someone dies. Apparently one reality series did dare show a dead body on it, and MTV is paying the price.
The show was T.I.’s Road to Redemption and the episode took T.I. to a funeral home where the body of a young man was shown on TV, and the family of that young man decided to sue.
Billboard reports “the claims were invasion of privacy, negligent misrepresentations about the decedent, violation of likeness (even though Williams’ face was reportedly shown out of focus) and interference with the family’s contract with the funeral home.”
From there, the issue became who owed the family the money, Viacom, the company that owns MTV, or their insurance provider, AXIS.
While MTV/Viacom did pay the family, they are now battling it out in court with AXIS. The total sum paid will be in the millions for both parties when all is said and done. Billboard has a lot more information for fans of legalese.
The lesson, though, is don’t show dead bodies on television, which we all kind of knew to begin with.