Reality TV star Tonya Cooley, whom you may remember originally from “The Real World: Chicago” and subsequently from “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins,” is suing MTV and production company Bunim/Murray for alleged sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination and sexual assault, among other claims.
In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Cooley also accuses her fellow “Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins” cast members Kenneth Santucci and Evan Starkman.
Cooley alleges that while filming the reality show in Phuket, Thailand in 2009, male contestants, including Evan and Kenneth, “forcibly removed female cast members’ bathing suits,”; inappropriately touched female cast members even though the women stated the physical contact wasn’t welcome; and called the female cast members derogatory terms relating to their gender, among other allegations.
In addition, Cooley alleges that she raised this issue with MTV, but was instructed to “just deal with it” as it was part of the challenge. She also claims that the behavior of the male cast members was otherwise condoned.
The complaint states that 8 days into filming on a non-competition day, the cast members were given large amounts of alcohol before noon but limited amounts of food, and Cooley claims that she became “very intoxicated.”
After a male cast member allegedly “forcibly removed” Cooley’s bikini top while the cast was hanging around the pool, she says she retreated to the cast’s accommodations.
Cooley alleges that after she passed out on the floor, Evan Starkman and Kenneth Santucci used another male cast member’s toothbrush to rape her and penetrate her vagina. According to Cooley, other cast members witnessed the alleged assault, as did the camera crews.
She also states that she believes MTV and Bunim/Murray were aware that the alleged event happened since tapes are monitored, but didn’t notify her or take action against Kenneth and Evan. (Cooley says she was unaware of the assault but did notice lacerations and rash-like abrasions on her labia the next morning.)
Cooley was eventually terminated from the show after she slapped another cast member in a fight, and she says that MTV and Bunim/Murray “further mistreated” her by “subjecting her to stricter disciplinary rules than the male participants” because Evan and Kenneth weren’t reprimanded.
Cooley is seeking monetary damages of an unspecified amount.
Several cast members call Tonya Cooley a hypocrite, having posed nude for Playboy magazine.
MTV representatives have not commented on the lawsuit.
