News broke earlier this week that My 600-Lb Life star Gina Krasley had died at the age of the 30. The reality show star had appeared in a 2020 episode of the series in which Gina and her wife Beth struggled with Gina’s health issues while living at home with her mom. As it turns out, following Gina Krasley’s experience on the show, she had sued the TLC series citing the show as contributing to mental health issues as she struggled to lose weight.
Gina Krasley was just one of ten former My 600-Lb Life stars or family of stars who appeared on the show who were involved in a lawsuit filed against the production company. In fact, the lawsuit had come together after the death of another reality star on the TLC series, LB Bonner, whose family accused the show of “gross negligence” that contributed to the cast member’s suicide.
Following the LB Bonner lawsuit against production company Megalomedia, nine other people from the show signed on. This included Gina Krasley, but also success stories on the show like David Bolton, who appeared back in Season 6. Other cited stars on the lawsuit include Jeanne Covey, Dottie Perkins, and Destinee Lashaee, per Starcasm.
The lawsuits were ultimately tied together after lawyer Tony Buzbee requested to consolidate them. A few months ago, a judge agreed and the formerly separate cases have now accused Megalomedia of “intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence” per the NY Post. As far as Gina Krasley’s specific claims went, she alleged production required her to go on an “extreme” diet in order to lose weight and also to “eat excessive amounts of food” in order to follow a storyline on the series that made it seem like she was struggling with the weight loss. She also said there was not ample psychological evaluation or mental health help while she struggled during filming. Over the course of the show's run on TLC, ten stars have died who appeared on the series, including James King, who passed last year.
The production company behind My 600-Lb. Life has responded to the lawsuit and has claimed that the way business was conducted on the series was above bar.
The injuries, if any, suffered by Plaintiffs were caused by the Plaintiffs’ own negligent conduct. Defendants are not responsible for damages resulting from any injury attributable to the negligence of Plaintiffs, and Plaintiffs cannot recover the damages from Defendants for any injuries that were caused by the negligence of Plaintiffs or others….Further, and alternatively, Defendants assert the affirmative defense that Bonner’s death standing alone does not infer the negligence of any party to it.
The lawsuit has been in the works for a few months now and was originally supposed to go to trial on July 20. That date had been postponed (as is fairly common for lawsuits) when Gina Krasley died on Sunday, August 1. News broke via an obituary and TLC later wrote a statement sending support to her family and friends. We'll be sure to keep you updated as the lawsuit moves forward.
