"Big Brother" Wings Pilot

Posted Aug 6th 2007 7:00PM by TMZ Staff

Big Brother 9UPDATE: To be absolutely clear, the banner that appeared on last night's show was NOT pulled by Jerry.

The producers of the CBS reality show "Big Brother" have grounded a pilot they say planned on ruining the show.

Lawyers for Endemol USA Inc. sent a cease and desist letter to Jerry Hider of Blue Yonder Air, to stop him from flying his plane over the "Big Brother" house. According to Endemol, Hider was planning a flyover carrying a message that told the other players in the house that Eric is "America's Player" -- essentially ruining part of the game.

Endemol alleges that by doing this, Hider's proposed actions would violate a "tort of intentional interference of an advantageous business relationship" -- or, in layman's terms, "Dude, don't ruin the game!"

Hider alleges that he's not trying to ruin the game, and that he was simply paid to do a job. The peeved pilot wouldn't release the name of the person who has been hiring him to make "Big Brother"-related runs, but said that up until now he, CBS and Endemol enjoyed "a symbiotic relationship." In 2001, Endemol even produced a story about the banner operation.

In a statement to TMZ, CBS says: "It's always great to have fans that are this engaged and passionate about 'Big Brother.' However, we also need to protect the integrity of the competition, which does not allow any outside influence on the houseguests who are sequestered from the public broadcast and therefore unaware of some of the secret twists in the show."

Is Hider going to try to fight Endemol and CBS? Not likely. He told us "If I had a bunch of attorneys I would fight this, but it's not worth my time."

Filed under: TV


Tags: big brother, BigBrother, cbs, endemol

Comments [56]
SphereBookmark and Share
4ie6

Relevant Posts

Reader Comments

(Page 1 of 4) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. ...........ME SO HORNEY,,,,,,,I LIKE BIGG BUTTTTS!!!!!!!,,,big whatever???cervezza mo'bettta

Posted at 4:09PM on Aug 6th 2007 by costaMesaboy

2. i thot this happened already??...danielle said she saw a banner..

Posted at 4:09PM on Aug 6th 2007 by BABESBLINGANDBOOZE.BLOGSPOT.COM

3. Hear this was going online through Albie Hecht's new deal, along with Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen cartoon and the one by Amy Poehler.

Posted at 4:14PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Ace

4. Tooooo Late.... They already showed the plane last night on the show

Posted at 4:15PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Glimmerdrive

5. Why is CBS letting this man bully a fellow contestant. D1ck Donato has been bullying and harrassing the women in the house and CBS has done NOTHING about it!

The only thing worse than a bully--are the people who sit around and watch someone get bullied and threatened.

He has threatened her life, threatened to rape her with a boot and poured Iced tea on her head. If you don't think that is a crime--go to a bar and threaten to kill someone and pour a drink on their head in front of a cop... let's see how far you get.

HE (D1ck Donato) threatens, harrasses and bullies Jen Johnson every single day...several times a day. It is sickening. Why aren't they doing anything to protect her or the other houseguests???

This isn't going to end nicely..he keeps getting more and more agitated everyday...

Posted at 4:26PM on Aug 6th 2007 by D1ck is a bully

6. A few years back, I paid $300 to the dude from Blue Yonder Air to fly a banner that read "You have fans out here (and my website url)" It was more of a promotional stunt to see if they'd read the website name on the air. That day our traffic went up 150,000 over normal, and the only people who heard the houseguests reading my banner were those watching the live feeds. Very interesting.. but I think that Endemol is 100% in the right on this particular issue. My banner wasn't harmful to the game... this one would have been.

Posted at 4:31PM on Aug 6th 2007 by AerialThunder

7. To add, the producers could have wisked the houseguests inside saying emergency meeting.... CBS should pay some person to keep an eye out for planes like this so they have a running start before players get a chance to see the AD

Posted at 4:32PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Glimmerdrive

8. th banner last night said Eric and Amber are lires. this one was going tell about Americas Player. Read the article people !

Posted at 4:34PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Heather

9. There was a banner plane they showed last night that said Eric (America's Player) was a liar, along with another contestant, Amber. It has caused alot of turmoil in the house.

This sounds like a new plane that was going to say right out that Eric was America's Player, a 'mole', so to speak.

Listen, I've been a fan of Big Brother and watched every season, but, IMO, if you actually pay money out of your pocket, probably hundreds of dollars, to fly a banner plane over a reality show house, you should use the money to get a life, or see a therapist instead.

Posted at 4:35PM on Aug 6th 2007 by So silly

10. D1ck is a bully - You are reading more into this than there is. It is all an act for the show. If you have ever watched BB before, then you know that he is not the first person to try to get under someones skin. As long as it does not get physical, the people in the house can do whatever they want. They all knew that going in. If you don't like it, then don't watch the show. Simple enough, duh.

Posted at 4:41PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Spurs

11. Amazing how well those phone calls work. Our office just received a call from Will Estell himself who told us he absolutely had nothing to do with the banner prank and for us to, as he stated, "PLEASE post that on your site and where ever else you might have posted my phone number". Estell says he has received about 30 incoming calls from all over the country in the last half hour. He also stated, " I have to give it to your people, If I had've been the right guy that would have been a Great comeback, giving my phone number out like that- its brilliant, reminds me of something I would do".

Estell assures us that he had nothing to do with the banner incident but thinks he might know who did. "The people who will go this far just for a laugh are a small circle and I would bet that its someone in that circle that I know...thats probably why my name came up because someone was trying to "get me back" by penning it on me. Thats all good though thats how we play." He went further in saying, " Trust me if I had've been the one behind this, I would've hired someone who could get it done the first time and I wouldn't have been bothered by the producers or networks threats of suits".

So-o-o Maybe we were wrong. Lets lay off of his phone now!

Posted at 4:55PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Celeb News by E!

12. spurs, yes. I should just ignore that a contestant is getting bullied and their life threatened.

All people who witness a crime should just be quiet, right? Because this IS a crime. Threatening someone's life is WAY beyond the normal lying and scheming that goes on in reality TV.

I find your comment moronic. To say I should close my eyes, shut up and pretend I didn't see someone get bullied and their life threatened ----IDIOTIC!

This isn't just him demeaning her appearance, being a sexist pig talking about her private parts or calling her names.. this is about him THREATENING TO KILL HER and RAPE HER WITH HIS BOOT UNTIL SHE BLEEDS TO DEATH!

Posted at 5:04PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Evel Dck Donato is a bully

13. last night's show was hilarious. Yes ideed the plane flew over the BB house as the contestants stuck it out in the HOH competition. On my opinion, it has already had an effect on the game. Eric was not considered a suspect at ALL in the mystery of who cast the votes to evict Kail the last two weeks. Now Daniele and her father have taken the "anonymous" plane message and confirmed any suspicions they had as to who cast the votes...Eric. Now from what I can tell she is planning to back-door Eric as a result of this. So, wouldn't it be foolish to even say that the banner stunt did not ultimately have an effect on the outcome of the game? Had it not flown over, Eric may have been under the radar up until the end, I presume. The reason for the houseguests' votes the last 2 weeks were to get the 'deceitful' players out that weren't coming clean about who they voted for...needless to say I miss Nick on the show! The truth will unfold soon in the BB house!

Posted at 5:07PM on Aug 6th 2007 by dallas

14. I am very happy that Eric is going home. I subscribe to 24/7. He is an absolute jerk.
'
ERIC .... Y.O.U.'.R.E. ....F.I.R.E.D.....

Posted at 5:07PM on Aug 6th 2007 by ERIC IS GOING HOME THIS WEEK

15. Whether you like Eric or not, it is NOT fair to him. The only reason he got caught was because the plane banner said "Eric is a liar". CBS should come clean to the house guests and let Eric stay in the house and play his own game. Let Eric and the rest of them play fair and square, and don't let that stupid pilot ruin the game and ruin the twist from CBS.

Posted at 5:28PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Tropez

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments