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Oprah's 'tip only 10 percent' Reality television craze: advice mere rumor, but painful Fault the creators and consumers NATHAN WUERTENBERG KARLA HOLLAND tragedy. Carboy & Demerrlc.ccm reported an Commentary Editor SlaffReporter October 2008 incident where Vh I and 51 Minds denied responsibility when a sleep-deprived em- ployee crashed into and killed rwo college sru- How much do you rip your waitress? Fifteen percent? Twenty? Peeling gener- The recent controversies dents while transporting equipment to the ser of ous? What about [1.o.'ency-five?In a recendy overheard conversation on campus involving reality shows, «Rock of Love Bus." The courr found rhern re- I learned something very interesting about someone I'm sure everyone is famil- specifically the recent sponsible. iar with; Oprah. It seems, Out of the generosity of her spirit, rhar Oprah has tragedies on Vii 1 and Unlike VH \ and 51 Minds, the tabloid cir- advised her audience of nearly 4.5 million men and women [0 only tip their rhe ongoing drama of cus rha[ has surrounded TLC's Jon & Kate plus servers ren percent to save money in rhe middlcofdlccoonomiccrisil. rhe Gosselin Family, has 8 is not as much the fault of rhe production as lt Intrigued, I decided to do a ltrrle research. $0, I rounded up a few wail- sparked debate over who is rhe Stars, Wich the reblcid circus surrounding ress friends I knew and asked for their opinions. One, who had already heard is responsible rhe couple's break up,jr's hard ro remember rhar about Oprah's advice, was none coo pleased. J can't repeat what she said for ln August 2009 Ryan "Jon and Katen did not begin as the reality show Jenkins, a contestant on the VHI reality show it became. :~:!su;~::.e:[~~~hri:s:~~~~~s~:~:;~~;(:e~::'i:~~ r:~la~:)t:;~~~~~gm:~s i;:e:::~~~~ ~nf~:~d~h;~ Megan wants a Millionaire became a fugitive afrer The couple signed on in 2007 as parr of the twenty percent tips, they're no longer a server. Could Oprah really have said something that could being charged for rhe murder ofhls wife,jasmint: Discovery Health Channel's "Real Life" series of east even more people their jobs in this economic climate? Fiore. The manhcnr which Hatted in rhe United programs that focused on rhe unique nature of No. After a lirde cruising through various online forums, Oprah's official website, and YouTube Srares found jenkins' body in a British Columbia their family. jackie Albanese of Grandparents. I dtscovered ebe rraces of a very reveal- Hotel, possibly from suicide. com says rhar because of this feature some of rhe ing rumor. That's all it really was. One VH J and rhe show's Production company 51 GOS5elins'issues, such as [he divorce, would have more harmless lnrerner rurncr. Seem- Minds, responded immediately to the news, but occurred whether cameras were presenr or nor. In ingly harmless anyway. Oprah never their responses revealed more: relation, Peggy O'Connor of Chicago Examiner eold aoyone to rip their servers ten per- "Ryan Jenkins was a conresram on Megan mentions rhar money was also the reason rhe cou- cenr. No evidence, desptre how much Wanrs a Mlllronalre, an outside production, pro- ple signed on [Q suppot! rheir large family. None- people insisc,exisr£ [0 rhe conrrary, ln duced and owned by 51 Minds, rhar is licensed ro rheless, the Gosselins could have SlOpped when facr, herwebsi[e recommends tipping VHI. The show compbed producrion ar the end their financial situation improved but chose nor servers fifreen to twenty percent (gener- of Mareh. Given the unfot!unare cireumstances, 10. ousenough ro make any waiter or wair- VH! has postponed any furure airings. This is a TLCand irsproducets are notwithourfault, resshappy). rragle situation and our thoughts go OUI 10 the for some STresseswould nor exisr if nOTfor tht:ir However,inrhecourseofmylnrer- victim's family." presence. It's no argument [hat Jon has gained net research, [did find our rhar many In turn, a 51 Minds representarive told TMZ, more admirers wirh TV exposure than he would p~'Op[e,including servers, wrongly be- "Obviously, if [he company had been given a full have without. This same exposure has encour- lieve that African American CUSTom- picrure of his backg:round, he would never have aged Kare's overambirious nature, which began ers tip less that orher customers. There beenallowcd on the show." to manifest in the way she treated herchi[drcn have even been psychologica[ srud- 1111'rep was correct, because as a Canadian ~nd husband. 1hrough rhe media's doub[e-stan- iespub[ished to anempl to prove rhis. citizen, Jenkins' criminal record would not have dard filter, JO\1 is symparhi1.ed and praised as a Pt:rsonally, J rhink this bdief, and those bachelor while Kate, who is mosdy caring for the studies, an: wonh ahour as mucll as a been included ifhe was pardoned and allowed to eight children on her own, is demonized for all immigrare to the United Slates. However. after horse's end product Jenkins was reported as a suspecr, TMZ immedi- lr's inreresringthat, of all thecdeb- her action, TLC producers could have provided riries that could have been in a rllmor ately uncovered coun documentS that from Las counseling for rhe fairly young couple when tht: relarionship began to fa!! und~r the strain, but Vegasdaling back to 2005 that indudedcharges about poor tippers, the one that sod- of assault and misdt:meanor b~t!ery nor on jusr t:videndychose nOtto. ely and the inrernct pick isone oftht: mOSt influential African Americans in on Fiore but also a previous girlfriend. IfTMZ The truth is that the rt:a1ity genre is not at could find those US documents, why couldn't 51 the United States today. lr's discour- Milld.';: fau[1 here, but all those who crealI' and consume ~ging that these kind ~f thoughts sri!! Surprisingly, this is not Ihe first limt: [he twO il. It doesn't matrer who draws the line and when, as long as someone does so. In the Cnl!no one did, ;:~,c.e~u-in a "harmks:t lij,teIn~ ~'-"rnp..n"'_~h..-- ....k..n a cockr""""h "pproach 10 ""~onI)\JoIusI·mo!(ltiontJ:lUllO'lwhlll~(lIdOr. ..,JJ.t