‘Temptation’ Parents Defend Suit Against Fox

Ytossie Patterson and Taheed Watson--two actors who admit going on “Temptation Island” to seek “positive television and press exposure to advance their acting/modeling careers”--stood outside Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, explaining their lawsuit against Fox and the show’s producers for damaging publicity the pair say they received from the unscripted program.

In an interview before their news conference--which drew camera crews from numerous TV and radio outlets, including CNN, “Entertainment Tonight” and “Access Hollywood”--the pair said the goal was not further exposure but to salvage their reputations based on the manner in which the series presented them.

“We thought long and hard about it before we did it, but this is the only vehicle we really had to prove to the world we’re not these angry monsters who left their kid at home for two weeks and lied about their child,” Watson said.

Patterson and Watson were removed from “Temptation Island” in the midst of the series--which featured couples being tempted by singles on the island of Belize--because they have a child together, which violated the show’s rule about not bringing an innocent third party into the mix.

Fox maintained in January that the couple misrepresented their situation, saying it was the network’s policy “that no couples with children together could participate in the show. . . . As soon as the producers learned of the existence of the child, they notified the network and the decision was made to immediately remove them from further participation.” In their recently filed lawsuit, however, which seeks damages for defamation and infliction of emotional distress, Watson and Patterson contend they revealed the child’s existence during the interview process--before taping began--and were told by producers at Rocket Science Laboratories that was “the wrong answer” and coached not to discuss the child.

Watson was in production on another program, he said, when told about the opportunity to appear on “Temptation Island,” which needed “a good-looking black couple” at the last minute.

As proof the producers knew about the child, Patterson said a photo album of their son sat on her nightstand at all times and a phone was made available to her so she could call twice each day while they were away. The boy, she said, was with her mother and “very much taken care of.”

After post-telecast revelations about Rick Rockwell--the would-be groom on “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?”--Fox retained a risk-assessment firm to vet its unscripted series; however, a simple database search by a Times reader uncovered a paternity suit regarding the birth of Patterson and Watson’s son in 1999, suggesting the producers either conducted an inadequate background check or chose to overlook the couple’s status.

“Anybody could have found out,” said Steve Sandler, one of the pair’s attorneys. “It’s all public record.”

Watson and Patterson also claim that the episode in which they were removed was “edited and manipulated” to create the false impression they had concealed their child’s existence. As opposed to the publicity windfall they anticipated, the suit says, they have received “threats, profanity, epithets and expressions of moral indignation” from “Temptation Island” fans.

While unscripted programming has generated high ratings for the networks, its unpredictable nature has provided numerous public-relations headaches.

Fox declined to comment regarding the lawsuit. Producers at Rocket Science Laboratories have consistently failed to return phone calls.

As for any fear of career repercussions related to suing Fox, Patterson, who previously served as a stand-in for actress Holly Robinson Peete on the WB network sitcom “For Your Love,” indicated opportunities had already dried up since “Temptation Island.” “I was sent out on auditions maybe four or five times a week, and now, nothing,” she said.