海角大神

The men of 鈥淭he Bachelorette鈥� continue to fight each other for Emily Maynard鈥檚 heart week in and week out in prime time. But behind the scenes, at least one other battle involving the popular ABC reality show has been settled. For now.

Producers of the long-running 鈥淭he Bachelor鈥� and 鈥淭he Bachelorette鈥� TV series have dropped a lawsuit against Stephen Carbone, the Texas-based television blogger better known as 鈥淩eality Steve,鈥� according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mr.聽Corbone鈥檚 popular website, realitysteve.com, covers a wide range of shows, including 鈥淛ersey Shore,鈥� 鈥淜eeping up with the Kardashians,鈥� and 鈥淪urvivor.鈥� 聽But the blog鈥檚 calling card is its coverage of the Bachelor franchise.

Carbone specializes in 鈥淭he Bachelor鈥� and 鈥淭he Bachelorette鈥� spoilers, regularly revealing things like the winner of the show, order of eliminated contestants, and other juicy details, sometimes before a particular season has even aired.聽

How does he do it? According to the lawsuit filed by Bachelor producers NZK Productions and Alternative Television, both owned by Warner Bros., Carbone bribed employees of the show, including cast members, for the information, encouraging them to break iron-clad nondisclosure agreements in exchange for cash.

鈥淚 swear, this is the easiest money you鈥檒l ever make,鈥� Carbone wrote one former 鈥淭he Bachelor鈥� contestant via e-mail, the lawsuit alleges. 鈥�$2500 to help me out. Not joking.鈥�

The producers鈥� lawsuit, filed in December, raises questions about the legal issues surrounding spoilers. The twists and turns of reality shows are supposed to be closely guarded secrets, and participants sign confidentiality agreements that carry severe financial penalties for breaching them (according to THR, reality show contracts routinely carry penalties of up to $5 million for blabbing secrets).

At the same time, Reality Steve is in no way affiliated with the Bachelor franchise, and he had been blogging spoilers accurately since 2009. On his blog,聽 Carbone cheekily maintains that he gets his information from a 鈥渟poiler fairy,鈥� who leaves the tidbits under his pillow at night.

鈥淟ong story short: RealitySteve.com isn鈥檛 going anywhere, I don鈥檛 owe the other side a penny, and they had no case,鈥� Carbone tweeted Monday.

"We have resolved our dispute with Reality Steve and are pleased he has agreed to have no further contact whatsoever with any of the cast, crew or employees of The Bachelor," Warner Bros. said in a statement.

It鈥檚 hard to imagine that would matter, however. Carbone鈥檚 site is just the most famous example of a huge swath of the blogosphere dedicated to spoilers of reality TV. With a little digging, you can find accurate spoilers for pretty much any pre-taped show out there. What鈥檚 more, Carbone鈥檚 network of 聽Bachelor tipsters is reportedly so vast at this point that he can probably get the information he needs anyway, without contacting anyone from the show directly. He鈥檚 already revealed the final four contestants of the currently airing 鈥淭he Bachelorette" season, though he has yet to reveal the eventual winner.

What鈥檚 more, spoilers don鈥檛 appear to do the Bachelor franchise any harm. In fact, they might be helping. Carbonne started delivering spoilers in 2009, the same year that "The Bachelor" enjoyed an unexpected ratings resurgence after several seasons on the downswing. That year, the show鈥檚 13^th season saw a 37 percent climb in the Neilsen ratings over the previous season.

Reality Steve probably can鈥檛 take all the credit for the renewed success of the show, which also benefited from good casting and a reworked format. Be he didn鈥檛 hurt things either. Nor did the headlines from his lawsuit.