MTV Dating Show Pauses Production amid Investigation Into Claims Former Star Was Drugged, Sexually Assaulted

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MTV

Production of MTV’s reality dating series Are You the One? has been paused while the network launches an investigation into claims that one of its former contestants was drugged and sexually assaulted.

Former Are You the One? contestant Gianna Hammer told Daily Beast that while shooting Season 5 of the show in the fall of 2016, she was “drugged” by production and “sexually assaulted” by a fellow cast member, whose name she asked the outlet to keep anonymous.

Now, work on the upcoming ninth season of Are You the One? has been paused, according to a report by Deadline.

“We take these issues very seriously and have paused production/casting to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations, the third party production company and further review our internal safety protocols,” an MTV spokesperson said in a statement.

Watch below: 

In her story, Hammer explains that she was put on a low dosage of the antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication Zoloft before joining the show, with her doctor warning her to never take the pills while drinking. Hammer says she usually took her medication right before going to bed.

Hammer said that while on the show, her medication was administered to her first thing in the morning by a local medic, adding, “their logic was that I wasn’t on too much of it — so, if I took it early in the morning, it wouldn’t really affect me later in the night.” Cast members were supplied and consumed alcohol.

One night, she claims, during an alcohol-fueled party, the show’s producers gave her an extra dose of her medication after she had a confrontation with another cast member.

Hammer said that she blacked out after that. The next morning, she said, producers sat her down and told her she had gotten into bed with a male cast member, and that other contestants — who ended up physically pulling her out of the bed — heard her saying, “No.”

The producers stressed that “nothing happened,” Hammer said, adding that they ended up allowing the male cast member to stay on the show.

Lighthearted Entertainment — which produces Are You the One? — said it denies the allegations, and welcomes an investigation, adding that it “will cooperate with full transparency.”

“We are confident that any review will confirm the safety [protocols] that we have long had in place on the sets of Are You The One?,” the statement read. “We deny the allegations made by the former contestant; throughout the eight seasons of the show, no contestant has reported an incident of sexual assault to Lighthearted.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.

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