So you want to be on a reality show?
Be careful. How you come across as “real” on TV might spill over into your actual life, as the owner of a Boca Raton pizzeria is discovering.
Twenty-seven-year-old Peter Izzo’s appearances on ABC reality shows “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise” have been followed by a torrent of online hostility toward him and his Peter’s Pizzeria restaurants in Boca Raton and Port Saint Joe.
Izzo on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against the unidentified creator of an Instagram account filled with “derogatory and defamatory” claims against him and his restaurants. And he’s been responding to a slew of critical one-star Google reviews by asserting that the way he was portrayed on “The Bachelorette” was “unfortunate.”
Efforts to reach Izzo and the two attorneys who filed the suit on his behalf were unsuccessful Wednesday.
The two shows portray young adults vying for the affections of members of the opposite sex. In “The Bachelorette’s” fall 2021 season, Izzo competed with other young men for a woman named Michelle Young.
But after just three episodes, Izzo’s onscreen portrayal prompted Parade.com to label him as the show’s “Season 18 Villain.” According to a November 2, 2021 story, Izzo got into a shouting match with a rival during the group date, and the next week was given the name Doughboy because he repeatedly promoted himself as a “pizzapreneur.”
One rival questioned whether Izzo came on the show to compete or to promote his restaurants.
When Young confronted Izzo about the yelling match, Izzo apologized, saying it “was really out of character for me,” the story said. Izzo lasted only three episodes before he was dispatched from the show.
Izzo also appeared in last fall’s “Bachelor in Paradise,” which brings together former contestants of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” for more courtship rituals. This appearance was covered by pmq.com, a website that tracks media coverage of the pizza business.
According to an October account on pmq.com, Izzo “played a similar role” — stirring up conflict between himself and another young contestant before “abruptly quitting.”
Izzo’s lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, does not mention the programs.
But the targeted Instagram account includes an altered version of a photo released by ABC as a publicity still for “The Bachelorette.”
The suit names as defendants “John Doe and Other Unknown Cyberpirates.” It accuses the account creators of committing irreparable harm against Izzo and his business through trademark infringement, violations of cyberprivacy protections, false designation of origin, and dilution of Izzo’s trademark, name, and logos.
Typically, when plaintiffs sue unnamed or “John Doe” defendants in internet-related cases, they expect to later secure a court order compelling a website or internet service provider to identify the creator.
In addition to monetary damages and attorneys fees, the suit seeks a court injunction ordering the account to be shut down and its ownership transferred to Izzo.
Examples of the alleged “derogatory and defamatory” posts are redacted in a composite of images from the offending site included in the lawsuit “but will be submitted of record in its unredacted form at the appropriate time,” the suit states.
Meanwhile, Izzo is also defending his restaurant’s reputation by responding to one-star reviews connected to the restaurant’s Google listing.
Peter’s Pizzeria currently has a composite rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars and 196 reviews. Most of the 196 reviews give the restaurant five stars and praise the food and staff.
There were 25 one-star reviews posted over the past three months, many appearing one after another with minimal comment. Most of those are appended with an identical “Response from the owner” and the words “FAKE REVIEW ABOVE.”
“Please know that The Bachelorette is a TV show, subject to the editing and direction of producers,” the responses state. “The way I was portrayed on TV was unfortunate and I’m sorry that my ‘performance’ upset you enough to write this fake negative review.
“Whoever you are, I encourage you to come in to the pizzeria to meet me and try my pizza first hand. I care deeply about my craft, business, community and family. Your FALSE negative review has a REAL impact on my rating, please stop. Thank you for understanding.”
Business owners should carefully consider potential effects before agreeing to appear on reality shows or any other type of programming that could portray them in a negative light, two South Florida public relations experts told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“The nature of a lot of these things is to focus on gossip — they’re all about drama,” says Valerie Zucker, a longtime area publicist. “You know you are signing up for that. I’d never go on a show like that. It’s unnecessary and counterproductive if you’re going to have a business life.”
Zucker says that if an appearance on a reality show or any other type of show makes someone a target of online attacks, the target should consider ignoring the vitriol and instead focus on being seen “onsite, shaking hands and kissing babies.”
The pmq.com story in October points out that Izzo posted images of himself on Instagram delivering 50 free pizzas to Hurricane Ian victims. It also posted a Facebook photo of Izzo delivering pizzas to a hospital on National Nurses Day.
Sometimes allegations are so serious they must be addressed directly, Zucker said. “If it causes an uproar, you’ve got to make a statement or find a journalist and say, ‘Let’s get my version out there.'”
Because of the nature of the allegations on the Instagram site, Izzo was correct to file a lawsuit against its creator, Zucker said.
Todd Templin, executive vice president at the Florida-based firm Boardroom PR, advises clients to take “a long view” before agreeing to appear on a reality show.
“They will get their 15 minutes of fame for sure, but they do not have control over the final product or how they will be portrayed.”
That portrayal “might be good for [the TV network’s] business, but not necessarily yours once the lights and camera are shut off and put away.”
Some of Boardroom PR’s clients have been approached by producers, Templin said, “and while it may be tempting to achieve some level of fame in the short run, it may be bad for business in the long run. They usually take a pass.”
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at .
