Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama, the stars of Renovation Aloha, have found themselves in hot water!
According to multiple outlets this week, the pair have been sued after allegedly showing the remains of Native Hawaiian ancestors on camera! OMG! A civil complaint filed earlier this month in the Third Circuit Court of Hawaii claimed Kamohai and Tristyn found human skeletal remains at a residential renovation project site while filming Renovation Aloha. Because of the property location, the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the State Historic Preservation Division believe the remains are iwi kūpuna.
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As the complaint explained, iwi kūpuna refers to the skeletal remains of Native Hawaiian ancestors, which have “the highest level of protection.” That means the law forbids taking, appropriating, excavating, destroying, or altering burial sites. Photographing the remains is also “prohibited, unless written consent is first obtained” from the authorities. And production of the HGTV show allegedly broke the rules…
The complaint claimed that an episode from Season 3 on April 14 featured burial remains at Kamohai and Tristyn’s home renovation. They also allegedly “posted video and photographic content to their public Instagram account (@kamohaiandtristyn) that appears to depict the human skeletal remains.” They specifically mention one Instagram Story that remained up by the time of filing.
Per court documents obtained by People, Kamohai and Tristyn didn’t get written consent from the appropriate burial counsel or the Department of Land and Natural Resources to air footage depicting the human skeletal remains on the Renovation Aloha episode. The complaint said:
“The broadcast of footage depicting ʻiwi kūpuna on national television causes profound and irreparable harm to the Native Hawaiian community, to the State’s interest in protecting its cultural resources, and to the dignity and sanctity of the ancestors whose remains were depicted.”
Why did HGTV even think to air it in the first place?! How disrespectful!
The suit named Kamohai and Tristyn, HGTV, Discovery Inc., and producer Nathan Fields as defendants. The state is seeking an unspecified amount in civil penalties and a permanent injunction to force the defendants to remove any online or broadcast content showing the remains. HGTV has spoken out about the controversy, saying:
“We take the concerns raised by the Native Hawaiian community very seriously and are committed to ensuring our programming is respectful and appropriate. We apologize to anyone who found any part of the episode offensive, as that was not HGTV’s intention.”
Deadline reported that the network had already edited the episode to remove the footage. They also inserted a note that the local police were contacted once the remains were discovered, and Kamohai and Tristyn did not build on the lot out of respect for the burial site. For their part, Tristyn and Kamohai addressed the controversy on Instagram Live, insisting they never planned to build on the land. They also stressed that they followed all the protocols they knew. Watch (below):
View this post on Instagram
What are your reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below).
[Image via HGTV/YouTube]
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