Amazing Race couple launch $8million lawsuit against CBS over alleged 'false and damaging' depiction on show

A couple who appeared on the CBS reality series the Amazing Race is suing the network and associates for $8 million and damages over the way they were portrayed on the reality show.

Jonathan and Ana Towns, who appeared on the 37th season of the series, which aired last year, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday.

Their season ran on CBS from March 5-May 15, with the Towns - Jonathan, a software developer, and Ana, a stay-at-home mom - finishing in third place.

They claimed producers presided over a 'smear strategy so audacious and immoral that would shock the conscience of even the most cynical propagandist.'

The couple said producers took 'decontextualized' footage to portray Jonathan as 'a morally depraved, brutal and abusive spouse,' according to legal docs reviewed by Daily Mail.  

Daily Mail has reached out to reps for CBS and Paramount for further comment on the story. 

The couple said that the network edited out material that would've made Jonathan appear in a more 'humanizing' manner, in their effort to create a narrative on the reality show.

The Towns said that the thrust of their legal filing was 'not a dispute over legitimate editorial judgment or discretion' that could be expected by reality TV contestants.  

The pair are representing themselves in the litigation. They named CBS, Paramount, and the production company and Bruckheimer Films in their multimillion dollar lawsuit, among other defendants.

The couple told the court that producers worked to place a 'constructed, false, and highly damaging portrayal' of Jonathan to fit into their storyline - leaving out footage which would have made him look good.

In legal papers, the Towns accused show officials of 'the disproportionate inclusion of narratively irrelevant but inflammatory content' aimed at Jonathan.

They said Jonathan had been prone to a 'disproportionate inclusion of narratively irrelevant but inflammatory content ... that were applied to no other participant in the production.'

As a result, the Towns said in legal docs, Towns - described as 'a private individual with no antecedent public profile' - was portrayed 'as a morally depraved, brutal and abusive spouse' for an audience of 'tens of millions of viewers.'

Jonathan, during production of the show in 2024, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to the legal filing. 

The Towns said that in the wake of the diagnosis, show officials including host Phil Keoghan persuaded them that nothing nefarious was happening regarding production, and that they should remain on the show.

The show portrayed Jonathan as someone who would engage in acts of 'intentional emotional abuse toward his spouse,' the couple said in legal docs. 

The Towns told the court that the 'defendants possessed the evidentiary materials necessary to tell an accurate and complete story.

'Their determination not to do so, and to substitute in place of accuracy a false and damaging characterization, constitutes the publication of a false statement of fact within the meaning of applicable California law.'

In addition to the aforementioned financial demands, they are also asking for a public apology; and 'appropriate disclaimers' to be placed on further airings of the show noting the diagnosis Jonathan received during filming.

Keoghan last year spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the dynamics of the pairings during the show's 37th season.

'Very rarely do you get a team where it's equal and they have exactly the same aspirations and everything is perfect,' he said. 'You see it within any competitive sports team where there's tension - like with Shaq and Kobe on the Lakers. It's that competitive thing.

He added, 'I love that teams want to come on this show and that they're there to have a good time and race around the world and everything, but I want to see that fight in them. I want to see them really want to win.

'It makes for an interesting race, and we've got a lot of that this season.'