Is this a classic instance of IIED?

CULTURE: Ugly Woman Sues Makeover Show: "Self-professed 'ugly woman' Deleese Williams is suing the ABC reality TV show 'Extreme Makeover' for failing to make her pretty. Hold on a second, I know you're rolling your eyes... It's not as petty as it sounds.



Williams was chosen as a candidate for the show and filmed talking emotionally about growing up with a deformed jaw, bad teeth, droopy eyes, and a body she wasn't happy with. Her family members were filmed talking about how hideous she was, saying things they never would have dreamed of telling her if it wasn't for the fact that the show's producers had promised her extensive cosmetic surgery. Then, the night before her surgical procedures were scheduled to begin, the show allegedly dumped her.

The show announcing Williams' selection for a mega makeover had already aired on Jan. 7, 2004, when the producers abruptly dropped her because the dental surgeon told them her recovery time would be longer than expected, Cordova said.



Williams was alone in a Los Angeles hotel room reading her pre-op instructions when a producer showed up and dashed her dream of a new life with a 'pretty' face, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit alleges that the show encouraged the family to say hurtful, humiliating things to Williams, which has resulted in the breakdown of the family and even the suicide of Williams' sister.

'Kellie could not live with the fact that she had said horrible things that hurt her sister. She fell to pieces. Four months later, she ended her life with an overdose of pills, alcohol and cocaine,' said Wesley Cordova, a lawyer for Williams.



'This family is shredded. There is a human cost to this,' Cordova said.



'Deleese is so hurt and humiliated, she won't leave the house now. She grocery shops at midnight,' Cordova says.



To please the producers, Williams' mother-in-law also laid it on thick. 'She said things like 'I never believed my son would marry such an ugly woman.''

The first time I saw this show air, I was disgusted by what they put these poor people through in order to get the plastic surgery that would allow them to feel normal. To put someone through this kind of emotional abuse and then yank the reason for it away at the last minute is unconscionable.

(Written by: Shalome)

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(Via SuicideGirls: News Wire.)