If you're an avid watcher of MTV reality shows, you probably saw the network's latest series, Siesta Key, which follows 22-year-old Alex Kompothecras and his friends in Siesta Key, Florida, where they do exactly what reality stars do: party. The series just premiered Monday night, but there's already more drama happening off-screen than on-.
Alex is the son of chiropractor Gary Kompothecras, founder of 1-800-ASK-GARY, a legal and medical referral service, Cosmopolitan reports. Gary decided that his son and his posse would make for a great reality show, so he hired the executive producer of Laguna Beach to make it happen. MTV picked up the show, and the rest is history. Uh, what?
Gary told the Sarasota Herald Tribune how it all happened. "I go, 'You guys are really having a hell of a lifestyle.' I said this would be a good reality show. Plus, they're good kids, so that was the main thing, they weren't bad kids. I said this would be a good story because when I was growing up, you had Father Knows Best, you had My Three Sons, you had people with values, and I didn't see that in the TV of late."
Good kid? Values? Well, I don't know if Gary realizes, but his son is receiving death threats because of a viral video that allegedly shows him and others dragging a shark on a boat (other disturbing photos of "animal misconduct" have reportedly been found, too). Alex has also been linked to racist social media posts. Unsurprisingly, all this drama surrounding Alex's actions has caused many to boycott Siesta Key.
While we wait for events outside the show to unfold, I can't help but wonder if MTV will cancel Siesta Key before it even really begins. One thing's for sure: You can count me out.
