A short ‘sizzle reel' of footage from Lake Shore, a Canadian reality TV show modeled after the booze-fueled antics of MTV's hit Jersey Shore series, has hit the internet, offering a taste of the controversies to come.
The clip introduces the show's eight toned stars, each with a nickname reflecting their ethnic background such as "The Pole" or "The Czech." Producers say the show is intended to reflect Toronto's multiculturalism.
But the clip, which was uploaded to YouTube last week, merely highlights the cast's petty differences as they insult each other behind closed doors.
At one point, Sibel ("The Turk"), possibly defending her dislike of Robyn ("The Jew"), denies being a bigot.
"I'm not racist, because you know why? I hate everybody equally," she says. "Especially Jewish people."
Downtown D ("The Albanian") later explains the limit of his tolerance for homosexuality. "You can be gay as long as you don't get anywhere near me," he says.
Responding to media fallout from the clip, which included criticism from the Canadian Jewish Congress, show creator Maryam Rahimi posted to her website that "the show will expose the characters' differences and also highlight the similarities that people from all walks of life share."
"A promo reel is not a true representation of the whole story and should not be interpreted that way," she wrote.
The original clip was pulled from YouTube, citing a copyright claim by the CBC, but another version was uploaded shortly after.
According to the show's official website, Lake Shore has not been picked up by a network.
