Is A&E’s Storage Wars Staged?

According to Insider, in 2012, one of the former stars of the show, David Hester, filed a lawsuit against A&E, which produces and broadcasts “Storage Wars.” In his complaint, Hester said that the entire show is faked and that there isn’t any real drama to the supposed reality television show. He sued A&E for wrongful termination and highlighted several aspects of the show which he believes are fake; the items found in the lockers are placed ahead of time, the interviews with the stars are scripted, many of the scenes (like the auctions) are faked by the producers, A&E pays for the storage lockers if a star cannot purchase them by themselves, and the network even pays for plastic surgery for its female stars. Pretty scathing comments, and ones which may have been motivated out of anger, considering that he was fired from the show.

In his official legal complaint, Hester alleged, “While on location filming an auction, Defendants (A&E) also film footage of the cast members and the public bidding when no actual auction is taking place in order to make it appear that any of the cast members is bidding at any given auction, whether or not he or she is actually bidding on the unit.” A&E eventually won the lawsuit, but there has always been a question as to the veracity of “Storage Wars.” However, another star that is still currently on “Storage Wars” completely contradicts Hester’s claims about the show.