What a Shock: Howard Stern Claims He's the Brains Behind Insipid TV Show

Shock jock Howard Stern has sued ABC and others for unfair competition and for misappropriating his trade secrets by allegedly stealing the idea for the TV show "Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People."

Stern filed suit seeking damages and the imposition of a constructive trust. Stern claims that "Are You Hot" is a rip-off of "The Evaluators," a running segment on Stern's radio and television program, where his judges offer "unabashed, blunt, and often harsh" criticism of the contestants and often use a laser pointer to highlight areas of a contestant's body during the judging. Stern complains that ABC and the series producer hired his former executive producer and former head writer to steal his creation.

Stern alleges that the defendants (1) violated the California Unfair Business Practice Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq., (2) unfairly competed by using details of Stern's show that had acquired "secondary meaning" under the common law, (3) with respect to Stern's ex-executive producer, breached his fiduciary duties to his former employer by using Stern's confidential trade secrets, (4) misappropriated Stern's trade secrets, (5) negligently interfered with Stern's prospective economic advantage, and (6) unjustly enriched themselves.

According to Stern's complaint, before ABC's program came on the air Stern had planned to broadcast a version of the show on a pay-cable channel that would not be subject to censorship (or taste, for that matter). Stern claims that when ABC aired "Are You Hot?" negotiations for Stern's TV show collapsed.

Stern seeks $10 million in compensatory damages, along with punitive damages, costs and attorney's fees.