A husband and wife act that auditioned for America’s Got Talent is suing Marathon productions claiming that their daughter is “deeply depressed” following their experience auditioning for the NBC competitive reality show.
The pair auditioned for AGT in New York City in January and performed a several songs, including an original tune that the wife wrote about her daughter. Producers then asked the young girl about the song and she told them she asked her parents to perform it.
The couple flew out to Los Angeles in March to film an audition for the show. At that point, the couple claim, Marathon productions tried to enter into a contract with the daughter–a minor–without the consent of her parents.
Jane [Doe] claims she and John [Doe] were “publicly humiliated” by the show’s judges — specifically Tyra Banks — and that producers told Mary to “act embarrassed and annoyed by her parents’ performance.” The singer also claims Banks “physically manipulated and verbally abused” Mary and, while making fun of the performance, insinuated that the child was “accidentally conceived.”
“Mary was traumatized, and became deeply depressed,” writes attorney Elizabeth Yang, adding that Mary becomes nervous and anxious when she hears the song and “whenever she thinks about the prospective televised airing or use online” of her parents’ performance and footage of herself.
The plaintiff says she asked Marathon not to use the footage and described her daughter’s emotional distress. The producer agreed not to feature the girl, but said it would use footage of the couple.
The family is suing for “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and civil assault and battery.” The suit was filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
