Mykel Hawke Suing Discovery Channel Over Joe Teti Fiasco

So, in the finest tradition of woodsmen these days spending more time in court and the corporate boardroom than they do in the woods, Mykel Hawke has filed a lawsuit against the Discovery Channel relating to Joe Teti. You can see the press release here.

As I mentioned two weeks ago, the Discovery Channel has already canceled Dual Survival because of something that allegedly happened with co-host Joe Teti. The rumor mill has it that he killed a dog and then threatened the crew to keep quiet, although that’s not confirmed yet. The dispute between Mykel Hawke and Joe Teti however goes further back than that.

As far as I know it started right after 9/11. From what I understand at the time Mykel Hawke was Joe Teti’s commanding officer. After the attack, Teti did not reup, but rather chose to work as a contractor. That upset Hawke. Then there was some gamesmanship regarding being picked for different shows on Discovery. Hawke blamed Teti for taking a job from under him, and for a helicopter crash that occurred during filming of a show Teti had pitched to Discovery. Then when Joe Teti became a co-host on Dual Survival, Hawke questioned his assertions of being a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars where he was technically a private contractor. Apparently at that point Teti threatened Hawke, which lead to restraining order against him. That was followed by Teti suing Hawke for defamation, a suit that is still going on. Now Hawke is suing the Discovery Channel because allegedly he warned them about Joe Teti being dangerous but they took no action.

Got all that?! Go bushcraft®! Who needs soap operas when you have survival shows.

Am I just being naive, or was there a time in the not so distant past when people who were interested in woodsmanship spent their time in the woods rather than on litigation, marketing, and corporate maneuvering? Seems an unfortunate consequence of selling woodsmanship as a product.