'H8R': On CW, celebrities confront their detractors

By BROOKS BARNES
New York Times

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H8R "Episode 1" Pictured: Jake Pavelka with Danielle Photo: Scott Humbert/The CW 2011 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What's more fun than ripping apart celebrities? The CW hopes it's watching shredded stars such as Eva Longoria and Kim Kardashian confront their detractors and teach lessons about hate in the social-media age.

"H8R," a new reality series from the producers of "Extra" and "The Bachelor," is first and foremost entertainment. But the show, the title of which is a play on the word "hater," is also a reaction to the bile, often anonymous, that cascades through the Internet.

"Haters are hiders," said Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, one of the show's creators. "It's easier to trash talk when you don't have to look people in the eye. We wanted to see if these people would continue to rage if they had the chance to look

celebs in the face and hear how hurtful this stuff can be."

"H8R" adds to a pop-cultural backlash against vitriol on sites such as Facebook, where a page titled "I Hate Lil Wayne!" -- referring to that diminutive rapper -- has more than 17,750 fans. MTV has "If You Really Knew Me" and "Bully Beatdown," while Fox's "Glee" regularly explores the subject. On the much more serious side, "The Bully Project," a documentary about extreme schoolyard teasing, will arrive in theaters in March courtesy of the Weinstein Co.

And the message is all over the music landscape, where the likes of Lady Gaga and B.o.B. have recorded songs about irrational hate.

The message of "H8R," said Mark Pedowitz, president of the CW, is this: "Think

before you type and don't believe everything you read on a blog."

Gregorisch-Dempsey, also the senior executive producer of "Extra," sees a ratings opportunity. But part of her interest is personal. She has a gay nephew whom she says has had a difficult time, and one of her cousins is Glenn Berman, the New Jersey judge presiding over the trial of Dharun Ravi, accused of secretly recording his Rutgers University roommate having an intimate encounter with another man and streaming the images online. The roommate committed suicide a few days later.

"H8R," set to have its premiere 8 p.m. Wednesday, has a simple construct that is a twist on "Punk'd," the former MTV series that played pranks on stars. In each half-hour episode of "H8R" two celebrities or athletes -- typically ones who have suffered negative tabloid attention -- are shown a video of an everyday person ranting about why they don't like them. In the first installment, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of "Jersey Shore" fame learns that Nick Petrillo of Long Beach loathes her because he thinks she is nothing but a "drunken donkey."

Then the celebrity, along with a camera crew, confronts the person in what the show claims is an unstaged ambush -- the surprise certainly appears to be real -- and says the video was hurtful. Petrillo, for example, is shooting pool with a friend when Snooki and her towering hair arrive. "I just saw you rant about me," Snooki says. "What is wrong with you? You have no idea who I am as a person."

Finally, there is a get-to-know-you activity and the segment ends with the insulter admitting an unfair judgment or holding firm. (Petrillo bashfully admits, after Snooki cooks dinner with his family, that he was wrong.) The producers say the opinions change about 60 percent of the time, adding a will-they-or-won't-they vibe to the show.

"It's like watching the awkward Olympics" when people don't change their opinion, Gregorisch-Dempsey said.

Aside from Snooki, participating celebrities include Longoria and Kardashian, Janice Dickinson, Levi Johnston and basketball players Charles Barkley and Ron Artest. On the show's wish list: Tiger Woods and John Edwards.