Date: 03-18-2015
Animal Planet also part of lawsuit against show
An iconic and well-known central Kentucky TV personality is being sued for trespassing and damage to property involving the production of a segment for his TV series.
Ernie Brown Jr., better known as Turtleman, is one of 10 defendants named in a lawsuit that was filed Friday in the Casey County Circuit Court Clerk’s office.
J.D. Long, who lives on Scherrer Road, Liberty, and the plaintiff in the suit, alleges that Brown, along with cast members Neal “Banjo Man” James, David “Squirrel” Brady, Jacob “Handyman” Ison, and Cole Henson, all cast members of the “Call of the Wildman” TV series and defendants in the suit, unlawfully trespassed and illegally cut timber to build a treehouse on 49 acres of land belonging to Long.
Also named as defendants in the suit are Rodney D. Finn, of Liberty, Sharp Entertainment, Core Media Group, Animal Planet, and Discovery Communications.Finn said that the allegations in the suit weren’t true and declined further comment, referring questions to Sharp Entertainment.
An e-mail was sent to Sharp Entertainment on Monday requesting an interview.
The suit states that on or about July 21, 2014, representatives of Sharp Entertainment and Core Media Group contacted Brenda Reece, who lives on Long’s property, seeking permission to film one or more episodes of the popular show on Long’s property.
After contacting Long, Reece told the two media companies that “under no circumstances” was anyone affiliated with the show to enter Long’s property.
Further, the suit states that in spite of being denied access to the land, the defendants:
– dammed and obstructed waterways and streams,
– desecrated, damaged, and destroyed rock formations.
– utilized stone from the rock formations to manufacture concrete to be used in constructing a treehouse.
– damaged and destroyed timber, using timber to build the treehouse, and constructed a zip line, among others.
According to the suit, the defendants filmed an episode of the show on Long’s property that aired on Sept. 14, 2014, also without permission. The suit states that after using the treehouse, it was burned.
Representatives of the media companies associated with the show allegedly admitted to Long that they trespassed on his property and used it for commercial profit, the court document revealed.
Finn, a neighbor, also admitted that the defendants trespassed on the property, the suit shows.
Long, represented by Liberty attorney Brian Wright, as well as the Lexington law firm of McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie, and Kirkland, is seeking monetary damages for the trespass, cutting of the timber to build the treehouse, “unjust enrichment” of the defendants, outrage, and negligence.
Both Wright and Robert E. Maclin III declined to comment on the suit, citing pending litigation.
According to the suit, Long also “suffered injury, damage, and harm, including severe physical, mental, and emotional pain and suffering.”
Brown disavows liability
The suit states that Brown, “by and through his representative and agent ‘Julie C.,’ has represented and communicated to J.D. Long generally speaking that ‘Animal Planet has indemnified defendant, Ernie Brown Jr., as he has no control as to the artistic direction of the show,’ and that an email communication to Jared Albert, a representative and agent of defendant Animal Planet, LLC, would be made, in order that J.D. Long would be able generally speaking to ‘communicate with the people in control of the treehouse project.’”
Wildman controversies
In 2013, the first controversies emerged surrounding an episode in which Brown was shown catching venomous snakes at a community pool in Danville. Boyle County and Danville city officials investigated the incident.
In response to that episode, Jim Harrison, the director of Kentucky’s Reptile Zoo, told WKYT in Lexington that he believed the episode was staged. In the episode, the Turtleman captured cottonmouths and copperheads at the pool. Harrison told WKYT that cottonmouths aren’t found in central Kentucky.
At the time Brown deflected the criticism.
“I heard somebody say they had a witch hunt on me, whatever that is,” Brown told The Lebanon Enterprise. “I’ll catch that too if it’s a critter.”
Brown said after the pool episode aired that Animal Planet called him and that he caught the snakes. At that time, he added that he wasn’t going to pay attention to gossip. Instead he was doing the show for little kids and to make people happy.
“I’m just trying to cheer up the United States. I did that. Now I’m cheering up the world,” he told the Enterprise in 2013.
Brown returned to Lebanon for Ham Days in 2013, and seemed to still be riding a wave of popularity based on the crowds that came to see him.
In 2014, Mother Jones, a nonprofit news organization, reported that it had identified instances of animal mistreatment by people involved with “Call of the Wildman” as the result of a seven-month investigation. In addition to the Danville pool episode, Mother Jones reported accusations that the show had been accused of improper care of baby raccoons, which required them to need emergency care; that a zebra caught by the Turtleman in another episode had been sedated; and that bats were taken to a location used in an episode filmed in a beauty salon in Texas in violation of state laws about transporting animals.
Animal Planet and Sharp Entertainment each issued statements denying that animal mistreatment was part of the show.
“We take the issues raised in the Mother Jones article very seriously as we take the treatment and welfare of animals in general. We react appropriately, responsibly, quickly and thoroughly whenever any specific issues are raised or brought to our attention,” Animal Planet wrote in its statement.
Sharp Entertainment’s statement stressed that the treatment of animals on the show was a top priority.
“We’re constantly monitoring on-location conditions and adapting more effective guidelines to achieve this goal,” Sharp Entertainment wrote. “In the world of TV and film where animals’ lives are often undervalued, our show sends a positive and important message by highlighting Ernie Brown Jr.’s desire and dedication to saving animals.”
A copy of the lawsuit can be found at www.caseynews.net.
By Larry Rowell, The Casey County News
and Stephen Lega, The Lebanon Enterprise
