86-year-old Hyman Marks and his 54-year-old son claim they were forced to film a segment numerous times under the 96-degree heat, which led to their elimination in the fourth round of auditions.
- Aug 9, 2011
AceShowbiz - "The X Factor (US)" faces lawsuit as soon as it gains popularity. Hyman Marks (86) and his son Stephen (54), who took part in the auditions, along with Hyman's wife Helen (78) sue the show, FOX and Simon Cowell as executive producer for allegedly putting them through a punishing physical ordeal that left them too exhausted to perform competitively.
According to the lawsuit, Hyman and Stephen had made it through multiple rounds of auditions in Miami when they were made to film a segment numerous times on June 15. They had to walk from a car into Miami's Bank United Center while a camera filmed multiple takes when the temperature was 96 degrees Fahrenheit.
Worsened with a combination of the heat, Hyman's age and Stephen's asthma, it is alleged that the process left the two contestants physically spent to perform later that day. Cowell, who sat on the judging panel, indeed said no to the father-son duo because he allegedly believed that Hyman could not endure the stress and rigors in the next level of the show.
"As a result of this grueling and discriminatory physical and mental exertion, the judges and the audience never got to see the real Hy Marks and Stephen Marks that day," the suit further reads. The Marks demand to be given another audition or $1 million for each of the 3 defendants, totaling $3 million.
FOX was recently also slapped with lawsuit from Simon Fuller steaming from a 2004 case in which Fuller accused Cowell of stealing his "Idol" format for British "The X Factor". In the new lawsuit, the executive producer of "American Idol" claimed the broadcast company breached the agreement which mentioned that Fuller deserves an executive producer credit and an executive producer fee from the U.S. "X Factor".
