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VN Next Top Model’s contestants may be sued
The leak appeared online last week in the form of a picture said to capture the four finalists, Le Thi Thuy, Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, Tra My, and Hoang Thi Thuy in a Singaporean fashion show that quickly spread through the Internet.
One of the highest-rated shows in Vietnam, the reality show is currently in its 9th episode, with eight potential winners remaining, so the revelation of the four finalists came as a big surprise.
Talking to Dan Tri, Le Thi Quynh Trang, executive producer of the show said their legal representative had collected sufficient evidence regarding the leak and had invited the three women to meet for legal discussions on Wednesday but they failed to show up.
However, Hoang Oanh, who was eliminated in the 8th episode, said Thursday she and the other contestants had not received any official information from the producers about the legal issue.
“I only got a call from someone who said he was a lawyer, asking me to come to his office but I didn’t because I don’t know who he was.”
Oanh also added that the show’s organizers have yet to let her know directly what she did that was wrong, claiming what they told the press “was not true. Because I did not post the photo of the four finalists; neither did I walk at another fashion show when the episode in which I got eliminated was not broadcast.”
Since episodes of Vietnam’s Next Top Model are filmed well ahead of their air date, it is important that those involved in the show’s production do not let details of upcoming episodes slip to the public to keep their intrigue and draw.
Trang said the producers had made the contestants sign three contracts in total, one in the semi-final round, one when they reached their common house, and one before they left the show.
“We have also repeatedly emphasized the importance of safeguarding the program’s information. They are all adults now; so when they violate the terms of the contract, they have to be held responsible,” she said.
21-year-old Thuy Duong, who got eliminated in episode 9 admitted she wrote what she felt about the show on her Facebook before the episode was screened last week, which is not allowed either, according to Trang.
“But I did not reveal any information about the show and also I couldn’t be the one who took that photo and spread it online. How could I when I was already eliminated and did not go to Singapore with them?” she said.
Duong added that she got a phone call from the show’s lawyers but would not meet them without her lawyer and only after the show’s organizers had informed her of what she did they thought was wrong.
Unlike Oanh and Duong, Phuong Nghi did not reply to Dan Tri directly but her spokesperson said Nghi and her family respected what the producers said and they would speak up when it was the right time.
“We don’t believe this is a serious issue and the two sides will be able to find a common viewpoint and figure out what exactly the contestants did wrong,” he said.
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