EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Saw this article today....

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/e-lady-hoggers-stars-sued-allegedly-stealing-pig-211414353.html

A&E Television Networks and the producers and stars of the A&E reality series Lady Hoggers have been sued by the creator of an Internet show who alleges her concept was stolen. 

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Crystal Ward and her Hogs, Dogs & Lace LLC claim that the A&E series, which follows two "hog hunting" Florida women and began airing in fall 2011, is a rip-off of Ward's own Web series. Ward says that in 2009 she came up with the idea for a series featuring three female hog hunters, called Hogs, Dogs & Lace. She formed a production company, recruited two other women to participate in hog hunts and hired her own film crew to shoot footage that later aired online and on DirecTV's Pursuit network.

Read the Full Lawsuit Here.

A&E is alleged to have shown interest in the series and is said to have begun negotiations with Ward for a derivation to be called Hog Wild. But after Ward shared her "confidential, proprietary, original material and creative concepts" with A&E and a production company, contract negotiations broke down, according to the complaint. A&E then offered to "buy out" Ward's interest in the show, she says, but she denied that request.

A&E went ahead with the show with the same two women Ward had recuited, Christie Chreene and Julie Snead, as well as a new production company, Sharp Entertainment (all are defendants) and renamed the show Lady Hoggers. The series premiered in November and has aired at least 8 episodes, according to the suit, but it has not yet been renewed for a second season.

"A&E and Sharp Entertainment have grossly underestimated the strength and fortitude of Ms. Ward," her lawyer Jammy Kiggundu tells THR in a statement. "She created this show, brought these parties together and then was unfairly and unjustly cut out of the project and the profits."

An A&E spokesperson said the network does not comment on pending litigation.

Kiggundu adds: "Ms. Ward has been hunting and wrestling wild hogs since she was very young. She is not afraid to wrestle with A&E, Sharp Entertainment and the other named defendants in a court of law."

The suit for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidence, fraud, negligence, civil conspiracy, trade secret misappropriation and tortious interference with contract with filed by Houston's Douglass & Kiggundu firm.

Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com

Twitter: @THRMattBelloni

Interesting!  ;D

Wow, lol. People are sue happy nowadays. I'm not quite sure if the suit is gonna hold up in court. It is a "free" country after all. If  other women out there want to do a hog hunting program, whos to say they can't do so? They didn't use her name or anything afterall, just a similar concept. Kinda like 'Pawn Stars'....look how many of them kinds of shows are on air now? I dunno, I'm jus sayin.

Filing a lawsuit is easy  ...  winning one is not.  This is a very difficult area to win.  There is nothing unique about a show featuring hog hunting and women.  Think of all the deer hunting programs with deer and women.

Additionally, just because one breaks off negotiations doesn't mean the other side can't find someone to fill that void.

There is not "torturous interference with a contract" for the simple reason there was none.  They were only negotiations.

Still, there may be something worthwhile in litigating the matter.  Most corporations I have dealt with look at the likely amount of damages that could be won  ...  the likelyhood of losing the case  ...  multiply the two  ...  and that is their settlement offer.

It is when the business was a LLC and contracts were sign. Crystal is a business women and I promise she had all her crap together before she stepped into this. There was lots of money put into this thing. And it was pit together as a business

There was also contacts signed when she dined they tried to buy her out. Thats when they changed the name. Business is business. The courts will settle it thats what they are there for. There is alot more to this I promise and the case will go to court to settle it.

Well, you can know you're true friends are still behind YOU %100 and are still praying justice is done.

Well crystal has never tried to screw anyone and she is not going to let them take advantage of her.

They should have a hog hunting contest to decide. Winner takes all.

That would be Western. And film crews with no editing straight live action.

YEYEYEYEYEYEYEYE LIVE ACTION!!!!

Chance is Crystal your sister or wife? Or just family?

She is my wife. When it comes to dogs and hunting she knows her chit.

I hope she wins!   Never cared for them other two gals or their show.  Go get 'em Crystal!!

I bet she does having you put a handle on her! Lol! Good luck with all that man... I hope y'all get what your are after. I'm not big on shady folks that do shady stuff like what it sounds like they did to y'all.

Hell just make two tv shows

So what u are saying is she taught  u everything u know? :)

Why you  think we got yeller dogs.lol

Hope everything works out in yall's favor Mr. Ward

Ill tell you something about court, its not about who tells the truth its about who can lie the best. Courtrooms are not about justice, they are about public opinion.

I have kept up with the situation at hand when it first started and although y'all don't know me chance and crystal Ipray to God that justice is served somewhere in all of this and I will also say that if it isn't in the court or in this life there is only one judge, where the truth is what really counts, in the next.

I hope everything works out for y'all. If someone takes food out of my family's mouth I would fight tooth and nail for it too, those other girls knew what they were doing and I am sure their moral compasses probably said at one point 'this is wrong' but money talks to those with questionable morals....Karma is amazing thing to watch!!

Good Luck to the Ward's!!

 I remember when Cward's wife  Krystal started Hog Dogs and Lace and although I never  did see the full Video from the clips  I seen Krystal was the sure enough Catch n Tie hog hunter and the other's were along for the ride ! I remember ya'll traveling around promoting the DVD and everything and trying to cast a good light on the sport ! So if they pulled some kinda crap and  undercut ya'll I say Sock It to Em !  >:D That's what they deserve !!!