A couple surprised by a fake corpse in their hotel room has filed a $10 million lawsuit against MTV over what they didn’t know was a hidden-camera prank for a reality TV show, Reuters reports.
While staying at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in January, James and Laurie Ann Ryan became the involuntary butt of a prank filmed for a series under development at MTV. The program, titled Harassment, is hosted and co-produced by Dude, Where’s My Car?‘s Ashton Kutcher.
According to the suit–which was filed in April but was moved to federal court this week–the Ryans entered their suite at the resort and “discovered what appeared to be a dead human body covered and surrounded by blood, evidently the victim of a homicide,” as hidden cameras recorded their shock, Reuters reports.
When the couple tried to leave the room, two actors disguised as security guards blocked their path while a third actor posing as a paramedic entered the suite.
Kutcher eventually emerged to expose the prank, but the Ryans were apparently not amused by the Candid Camera-style antics. They are seeking $10 million in damages against MTV and the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, accusing them of invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress and fraud, among other things.
Kutcher, who plays Kelso in the Fox sitcom That ’70s Show, is also named in the suit.
A spokeswoman for MTV told Reuters that the incident was filmed for a pilot episode of the show and has not aired, and she added that the program’s future remains uncertain.
