Bristol Palin's New Show Sued by Kyle Massey: My Family Got Ripped Off

Former That's So Raven star says Life's a Tripp was originally conceived by him, his brother and mom as a reality series featuring all of them

By Natalie Finn Jun 20, 2012 3:03 AMTags
Bristol Palin, Kyle MasseyJimi Celeste/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa Press; Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Wasn't there supposed to be some reality show featuring Bristol Palin bunking with her former Dancing With the Stars castmate Kyle Massey?

That's what Massey thought, anyway!

The former That's So Raven star, brother Christopher and mother Angela have sued the producers of Bristol Palin: Life's A Tripp, which premiered tonight on Lifetime, charging that the Masseys came up with the concept and started shooting a series that involved them and Bristol, only to be unceremoniously cut out and—needless to say—not compensated.

 

Bristol was not named as a defendant in the 31-page lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Associated Television International, Helping Hands LLC and David McKenzie.

"It is unfortunate that after months of trying to resolve this matter the professional way, we were left with no other course of action than to take legal action to protect ourselves," Angela Massey said in a statement. "If you read the entire complaint, and particularly pages 8-11, you will see how we created the show, registered the show and did all the leg work to bring this idea to TV and to the defendants, who stole our concept."

Originally titled Helping Hands and conceived for the Bio Channel (A&E owns that network and Lifetime), the show was going to feature Bristol and her son, Tripp, rooming with the Massey brothers while embarking on various charitable ventures together in the Los Angeles area.

Kyle's fellow Disney Channel star Chelsea Kane predicted to E! News last year that the pairing would make for "must-see television," but someone, at some point, apparently felt differently.

Life's a Tripp now features Bristol readjusting to life as a single mom back in her home state of Alaska after brief stops in L.A. and the Phoenix area.

The Masseys are asking for damages and a permanent injunction against the producers from profiting on what they claim was their idea. The lawsuit charges the defendants with copyright infringement, fraud and deceit, breach of contract, bad faith, misappropriation, tortious interference and unfair competition.

A&E has not returned a request for comment.