Inc did an exclusive on Marcus, breaking down the profit, they actually got a look at the contract businesses sign. And Marcus's answer to them was interesting on that topic.
It's funny Larissa Swanson hasn't tweeted in a year but when this came out last week she retweeted it. https://twitter.com/lariss89s?lang=en
From the article:
As with any reality TV show, the journey on The Profit begins with signing away some of your rights. Inc. obtained the show's contract, which gives The Profit's production company, Machete, and CNBC, the legal right to "portray [a] company in a false light" and to "edit, cut, rearrange, adapt, dub, revise, modify, fictionalize" what the business owners say. It also gives Machete the right to record with "hidden cameras" and expose a company and its employees to "public ridicule, humiliation, or condemnation." Lemonis's investments are "simulated" too--the contract says Lemonis will hand the contestant a "prop check" to portray a "dramatic moment." (Another clause says if Lemonis wants to invest or loan the company money, that negotiation will happen off camera.) If Lemonis, or the show, hurts the company in any way, including but not limited to by giving bad business advice, participants forfeit the right to sue (they are required to enter arbitration if a dispute or claim arises). CNBC's Ackerman, a longtime reality TV creator, says the contract is boilerplate. "It's the sort of release you'd sign if you were on The Bachelor. The checks are legit," Ackerman insists, explaining that producers take the check back after shooting the scene, but companies eventually get the money. "The deals that are made on the show are legit."
Even for reality TV standards, The Profit contract is overly "aggressive" and founded on clauses that could result in the "abuse" of contestants, says one well-known reality TV producer. He says the hidden-camera clause, the false-light clause, and the ability to edit and dub what contestants say--"Franken-biting," in reality TV jargon--hark back to the golden age of reality TV shows like Big Brother and Joe Millionaire, based on manipulating contestants. Jonathan Handel, a lawyer in Los Angeles who represents documentary producers, says, "This contract says they will portray you however the hell they want. This is not something many people agree to unless they are desperate or ill-informed."
Read the full article here, it's pretty interesting. https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/dark-side-of-marcus-lemonis-reality-tv-show-the-profit.html?cid=sf01001
