Dual Survival TV Star Cody Lundin Files Defamation suit against Discovery Channel and Brian Nashel

PHOENIX - July 21, 2016 - PRLog -- Discovery Channel has repeatedly had troubles with safety (http://deadline.com/2013/08/discovery-named-in-wrongful-death-negligence-suit-from-reality-show-chopper-crash-575118/) and the legitimacy of its survival programming (think Man vs. Wild and the hotel scandal). Dual Survival itself has been plagued with co-hosts who were less than honest about their backgrounds. Dave Canterbury was eliminated for lying (http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/canterbury-tales-dual-survival-liar-revealed/) about his military and survival skills experience. Canterbury was actually a factory worker who made home videos in an Ohio backyard, posted to YouTube. Canterbury was replaced by Joseph Teti, who was later kicked out of the Special Forces Association (http://www.militarytimes.com/story/entertainment/2015/02/20/reality-survival-star-saga-takes-new-twist-joe-teti-mykel-hawke-dual-survival/23662023/), one of only ten people eliminated since its inception in 1964. Throughout the ongoing train wreck, Discovery Channel has not commented on why they fired Canterbury, Lundin, Teti, or Graham. According to a TMZ story, Teti was booted for killing a dog or cat (http://www.tmz.com/2015/05/29/joe-teti-dual-survivor-disc...) on set, but Discovery ran episodes anyway. (http://radaronline.com/celebrity-news/dual-survival-joe-t...)

Lundin has been an outspoken critic of what he sees as a breach of consumer trust and dangerous programming in survival shows that havekilled at least one viewer (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089634/Bear-Grylls-survival-challenge-man-dead-remote-Scottish-mountain-hut.html). "Dual Survival was an outdoor survival skills show. If you're not a professional survival instructor, you shouldn't be entrusted with teaching life-saving information to anyone, let alone millions of people. Survival instructors deal with people's lives. Deception in this field is dangerous, and it's literally duped a sitting president," he said, referring to President Obama's (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/us/politics/president-obama-joining-bear-grylls-tests-survival-skills-in-alaska.html) time with actor Bear Grylls.

According to a TV Guide article titled The Dangerous Side of Survival TV (http://www.tvguide.com/news/survival-tv-special-report-1088519/), "Lundin says he was fired and that his termination was the culmination of several long-running arguments with the network, production company Original Media, and his co-stars, regarding the show's credibility, its commitment to the health and safety of the cast, crew, and viewers, and what he calls an 'appalling lack of leadership.'"

Lundin's lawsuit stems from a season four episode in which Lundin claims the network repeatedly lied and edited out-of-context footage to attack his personal character and professional competence. According to the lawsuit, the network initially asked him to lie several times by publicly stating that he quit the show to pursue his survival school (http://www.codylundin.com/). The defamation episode was created when Lundin refused. Both companies were sent a cease and desist letter for defamation before the episode aired. "Despite my repeated warnings, they did it anyway," said Lundin. Lundin's attorneys have ordered the defendants to save all records regarding Dual Survival, Dave Canterbury and Joe Teti, and more bombshells are expected to drop about the Canterbury and Teti fiascos. Due to Lundin's decades-long career as a survival instructor and his experience in the entertainment industry, the lawsuit may also expose issues with other Discovery survival shows.

Discovery Channel has made millions of dollars from their survival programming, and state that they produce "the highest quality non-fiction content." This time, however, it seems the network picked a fight with a real survival instructor. So, what happens to Discovery's credibility when a 27-year veteran survival instructor and industry insider who helped develop one of the highest rated survival shows goes public with a Federal lawsuit?  It may prove to be the biggest behind-the-scenes expose ever about reality survival TV.

For information, contact L. Wayne, lwayneu@gmail.com.