| The Real World: San Diego | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Season Information | |
| Season No. | 14 |
| Location | San Diego, California |
| Season Run | January 6, 2004 – June 29, 2004 |
| No. of Episodes | 26 |
| Cast | |
| Starring | Jamie Chung Cameran Eubanks Randy Barry Frankie Abernathy Brad Fiorenza Robin Hibbard Jacquese Smith Charlie Dordevich |
| Season Chronology | |
| Previous | The Real World: Paris |
| Next | The Real World: Philadelphia |
| Gallery | |
The Real World: San Diego is the fourteenth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships.
It is the third season to be filmed in California and the first season to be filmed in San Diego followed by season 26.
Assignment[]
The San Diego cast worked in San Diego Bay as crew members for Next Level Sailing on a boat named Stars & Stripes, which carried visitors daily. Before beginning their regular duties as tour guides, which included preparing yachts for excursions, piloting them in San Diego Bay, and providing maintenance, the cast had to undergo a course in sailing, and navigating the vessels. This created a problem for Frankie Abernathy, who has a phobia of large metal objects, such as boats, and is initially frightened by the sight of the harbor.
Residence[]
The cast's residence was a custom-designed, two-story house at 4922 North Harbor Drive in San Diego. The house, formerly a Blue Crab Seafood restaurant and a marine supply company, sits on the edge of the southeast end of Driscoll's Wharf, overlooking America's Cup Harbor in Point Loma. MTV.com gives its size as 5,000 square feet (460 m2), though realworldhouses.com gives it as 10,328 square feet (959.5 m2). During filming of the series, the property included a sand volleyball court and basketball court.
Cast[]
| Cast Member | Age* | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Fiorenza | 22 | Chicago, Illinois |
| Cameran Eubanks | 19 | Anderson, South Carolina |
| Frankie Abernathy | 23 | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Jacquese Smith | 19 | Paterson, New Jersey |
| Jamie Chung | 20 | San Francisco, California |
| Randy Barry | 24 | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Robin Hibbard | 22 | Tampa, Florida |
| Charlie Dordevich | 18 | Belgrade, Serbia |
*Age at the time of filming.
Rape Allegation[]
A 22-year-old woman claimed she was raped in the "Real World" house sometime during the night of November 14, 2003 by an acquaintance of Randy Barry (identified in local reports as "Justin") who was staying at the house as a guest.
The woman claimed the man bought her a drink at a downtown San Diego nightspot and she blacked out after drinking it. Jamie Chung found the young woman lying naked on the bathroom floor of the house as Justin emerged from the bathroom, saying, "I just hit that." That person then dressed the woman and moved her to the living room couch where Chung (upon arriving home on the morning of November 15, 2003) found her.
Chung then helped that other person move the woman to the downstairs guest bedroom. She and the camera crew woke the woman at 10:30 a.m. while the cameras were rolling. Chung told the woman that she may have been sexually assaulted in the bathroom during the night, but the woman (according to Chung) looked disoriented and had difficulty speaking.
With the woman's help, Chung contacted a male friend of hers and arranged for her transportation home. Feeling pain in her genital region, the woman reported the incident to police on November 16, 2003; a subsequent medical examination revealed abrasions to the woman's vagina and anus. According to police, the woman believes that her assailant drugged her, brought her back to the "Real World" house and raped her in the bathroom while she was unconscious (since that is the only place in the house where the show's cameras are off-limits).
Another cast member told police that he had seen the woman barely able to stand up in the bathroom, mumbling incoherently and looking confused, according to the search warrant.
On November 17, 2003, the police sexual assault unit began investigating, but the cast and crew had left on the group trip to Mexico; all film from November 14 and 15, 2003 had been shipped from the house to the production headquarters in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Lee, the on-site producer of show told police he had not viewed the footage but after talking to the cast, he believed the woman might have been raped and confirmed that Justin was resident in the house at the time of the alleged assault. Lee agreed to supply the police with the consent forms and photo ID cards that listed who was in the house at the time of the incident, and gave them a tour of the house, allowing them to search the bathroom for evidence.
However, at the end of the tour, Lee received a phone call from Pam Naughton, an attorney representing Bunim-Murray Productions (which produces the show). Naughton refused to permit the police to search the bedrooms and stated that the producers would not turn over any documents or film until she personally reviewed them.
The police then obtained a search warrant on November 18, 2003 and raided the house, confiscating the film-editing computer, the cast's e-mail computer, bedding, towels, videotapes, and other possible items of evidence. After examining hours of footage taped for the show and seizing evidence at the scene, police made no arrests and the San Diego County District Attorney's office concluded there was not enough evidence to warrant any charges.
Due to the allegation, nearly a month of footage from the season ended up on the cutting room floor. While Charlie Dordevich only appears in three episodes, he lived in the house almost as long as Frankie, who appeared in the first 23 episodes.
TV Guide critic J. Max Robins wrote that, "The sexual-assault charge is the most tragic event in a long list of disturbing incidents that have plagued The Real World since it debuted 12 years ago."