The outcome of The Voice is probably being manipulated by producers
Facebook/The Voice NBC
In case you weren't already aware that reality shows deliver everything but reality, here's more proof: According to a contract obtained by the New York Daily News, NBC's "blind" singing competition The Voice is anything but a fair game. Contestants must sign a 32-page document that essentially gives the show's producers a free pass to do everything from ignore the program's voting system to release a contestant's medical or psychological tests on the air.
"The second clause of this document says to contestants, 'F--k you,'" a legal expert told the Daily News. "And if you missed it, the clauses that follow say, 'F--k you.'"
Contestants on the show legally give NBC carte blanche to "change the rules at any time," "eliminate contestants at any time, even if they are 'winning' with the public", and, perhaps most terrifyingly, depict contestants in a way that "may be disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing [and] may expose me to public ridicule, humiliation, or condemnation."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While we certainly hope that The Voice's contestants read through the long contract and knew what they were getting into before appearing on the show, it is possible that they gave it only a quick skim, as many of us do when we're faced with a long contract of terms and conditions. Let's just hope that they didn't "agree by accident."
Read the whole exposé at the New York Daily News.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
How drones have detected a deadly threat to Arctic whalesUnder the radar Monitoring the sea in the air
-
A running list of the US government figures Donald Trump has pardonedin depth Clearing the slate for his favorite elected officials
-
Ski town strikers fight rising cost of livingThe Explainer Telluride is the latest ski resort experiencing an instructor strike
-
TikTok secures deal to remain in USSpeed Read ByteDance will form a US version of the popular video-sharing platform
-
Unemployment rate ticks up amid fall job lossesSpeed Read Data released by the Commerce Department indicates ‘one of the weakest American labor markets in years’
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
