Little over a week ago, Australia didn’t even know what ‘Struggle Street’ was – apart from being well-acquainted with such a feeling, located in Can’tEvenVille on a Sunday morning, where the population is, squarely: you.
Now, ‘Struggle Street‘ has become the unanimous talking point of Australian TV this week – its explosive promo initially caused outrage; however, most viewers of its maiden episode left feeling like they’d been cleverly coaxed into watching a raw and affecting piece of television.
I see what you did there, @SBS. Stirring up publicity with trashy promos for #StruggleStreet but actually delivering an insightful doco
— Bridget Gillespie (@bridgetgllsp) May 6, 2015
However, the controversy that was initially borne from last weekend’s promo still left a bitter taste and similar sentiment of outrage from participants of the show after airing, as 9 News reports select participants are set to sue SBS over their portrayal in the documentary.
Shine lawyers are set to represent some of the Mt Druitt residents on a pro bono basis, in a bid that will attempt to pull next week’s 2 hour series finale from the air.
On the flip side, independent film company Keo Films Australia, who produced and filmed ‘Struggle Street’ under SBS, are taking legal action against Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali, according to The Guardian.
Keo Films Australia will also be suing for defamation damages, following Bali’s claims against the ethics and legality of the production company’s filming of ‘Struggle Street’. Bali labelled the documentary series “publicly-funded poverty porn” after the SBS promo aired last week. In correspondence sent to Stephen Bali yesterday and released by the broadcaster, SBS condemned Bali’s public response to the show, describing his comments:
“The serious, defamatory and damaging allegations made regarding the production team asking participants to ‘create scenes’ are absolutely false.”
SBS will be releasing the final two episodes of ‘Struggle Street’ in one hit next Wednesday with a two-hour special. This week, the program garnered the biggest viewership in its 8:30 time slot, attracting a staggering 1.3 million viewers.
