Is Bar Rescue Fake? - Lawsuit Says So

While Jon Taffer always claims that Bar Rescue is real and nothing is ever scripted, most people who watch the show feel otherwise.  Yesterday, a lawsuit was filed by Dr. Paul T Wilkes against Bongo LLC (a Bar Rescue production company), Jon Taffer, and his wife Nicole Taffer.  Paul was an owner of the Sand Dollar in Las Vegas, which was on season 3 of the show and renamed to Bar 702.  You may remember the episode titled as "Don't Mess With Taffer's Wife" where Jon gets mad that Paul was hitting on his wife.  The full lawsuit is here from Deadline, but here are some of the highlights that give a lot of insight into the Bar Rescue process:

 
• The casting company told Dr. Wilkes that the show was looking at forty bars in the Las Vegas area that were under consideration for the show.  They said those who displayed the most outlandish behavior would be considered the most television worthy, and would be chosen for the next phase of the selection process.  The next phase would be a few people from the company coming to film audition tapes to get a feel of how they would be on camera.
• During the filming of the audition tape, Dr. Wilkes was instructed to talk to his friends in a natural way as if no cameras were present.  He remembered the "outlandish" behavior being part of the selection process, so he talked about some Vegas strip clubs with his friends.
• After the audition tape was filmed, the casting company approached the production company about making an episode that focused on a "dirty doctor" who "picks up on strippers."
• The production company then sent a single cameraman for another audition tape, where they interviewed bar employees including Dr. Wilkes, and asked questions like what he thought of Jon Taffer, the way he dressed, and how he gets in people's faces.
• Closer to the filming date, producers told Dr. Wilkes that he was 1 of 3 bars under consideration for being selected, and that they would be filmed, with the videos sent to Jon Taffer, who would select the bar chosen to be rescued.
• When filming Dr. Wilkes at the bar, Dr. Wilkes was doing pushups against the bar and dancing around.  Producers were unsatisfied with the level of extremity, so told him to make disreputable comments to women in the bar.
• In a later interview before the show, the producer said that in order to "get the show," Dr. Wilkes had to make offensive comments about women.  He was assured that the comments wouldn't be seen by the public and Jon Taffer would be the only one seeing them.  The producer asked graphic questions about women's parts, and when Dr. Wilkes' responses weren't graphic enough, the producer coached him to make his responses more graphic, and to "say it like this."
• Producers told Dr. Wilkes that Nicole Taffer would be coming into the bar to help with the casting tapes, and when she arrived with a friend, the producers texted Dr. Wilkes to stay away until they give him a cue to approach them.
• When he got the cue, he approached them and talked to them, while the producers watched from a control room.  The producers weren't satisfied so texted Dr. Wilkes to "Hit on [Mrs. Taffer] hardcore!!"
• While watching the scene from an SUV, Jon Taffer allegedly called the control room to tell them to have a drink near the spot where he intended to confront Dr. Wilkes, so he could throw it in his face.  He allegedly said to a colleague, "Now I'm going to show you why my show is Number One."
• Dr. Wilkes then claimed that Jon Taffer came in to confront him, showed him footage of his audition tapes where he insulted the way Jon dressed.  Jon then grabbed the drink in his hand, threw it in his face and smashed the cup in his face.  Jon then spit in his face and tore off his shirt so violently that buttons ripped off his shirt.  Jon then picked up the second drink that was planted and threw it in Dr. Wilkes face.  After that, Jon swung at Dr. Wilkes' head with his electronic tablet, and turned to go towards his coat.  Dr. Wilkes thought he was going for a weapon so tried to restrain him, and was punched in his left jaw by Jon Taffer.  Jon Taffer began hyperventilating and collapsed on the floor, and the entire attack was caught on camera.
• As a result of this attack, Dr. Wilkes suffers from emotional distress and things such as migraines, nausea, vomiting, night terrors, crying spells, severe depression, and anxiety attacks.

If you are interested, the full episode is available on the Spike TV site, and the video clip is below where the confrontation occurs.

Bar Rescue

The confrontation in the episode is nothing like the confrontation that Dr. Wilkes describes, so obviously there are some holes in the lawsuit.  If his initial story was true, I am not sure why they would refilm a different confrontation between him and Jon.  If the drink throwing and punching occurred, why would Dr. Wilkes agree to a new confrontation and agree to film for an additional 4 days with Jon?

I think the more interesting part of the lawsuit is how much auditioning and filming they actually do before selecting a bar to be on the show.   Jon Taffer repeatedly claims nothing is scripted, but the bars are definitely coached to be obnoxious so they get selected, and the producers usually have a storyline in mind before they start filming.  Sounds like I may have been right on target with the O'Face video story.

What do you make of this lawsuit?


UPDATE - Here is Dr. Wilkes shirt when he is hitting on Nicole Taffer.  Notice no shirt pocket on the right side of his shirt, and a double pocket on the left side of his shirt.

Supposedly moments later when Jon Taffer comes in to confront him for hitting on his wife, this is the shirt Dr. Wilkes has on.  It has a pocket on the right side now, and only one pocket on the left side:

I would say they are definitely different shirts and once again some clever editing done by Bar Rescue.  Who knows if the first confrontation was exactly as described in the lawsuit or if any copies of the video still exist, but I guess time will tell.