Flip This Lawsuit

Fans of the A&E TV show “Flip This House” were dismayed to discover that the show’s stars, Richard Davis and Ginger Alexander of Trademark Properties, were evicted for the show’s second and third seasons.

Oddly enough, Davis — a developer who buys distressed properties in South Carolina and rehabs them for a profit — was ejected from the show he had created. Good ol’ creative differences led to the split, but Davis is suing.

Before social media, this may have been a dispute largely handled by lawyers and PR reps hoping to sway public opinion through traditional media. But law school student and citizen marketer Mark Lyon is demonstrating how the game has changed. A “Flip” fan, Lyon created the Flip This Lawsuit blog as a Filter to chronicle the legal battle between A&E and Davis. Fans have been voicing their support for Davis and venting dismay at A&E. Commentors regularly trash the show’s new real estate teams. Some are even digging in to their backgrounds and raising questions.

Some fans say they have blocked A&E from their cable boxes and refuse to watch any of the channel’s shows. Lyons has posted the contact information of A&E executives so fans can further vent.

Despite reports of A&E shutting down the show’s official message boards, the network seems to be allowing scathing commentary about the latest season of the show. Smart move. Let ‘em vent.

Undeterred, Davis created a new show and sold it to Discovery’s TLC channel. It debuted last week.