Montauk Surf Lodge Tells Bravo's 'Summer House' To Cease And Desist

The Surf Lodge in Montauk is not ready for its closeup—especially with the Bravo network.

A representative of one of the production companies for the show “Summer House” said on Tuesday that footage of the Surf Lodge would be pulled from the reality show after representatives of the popular resort issued a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, March 14.

The letter was sent by attorney John J. Zidziunas of New York to Bravo, its parent company, NBC Universal, and the production company Left Hook Media after Surf Lodge staff saw footage of the lodge featured in two “Summer House” episodes. Currently in its second season, the show follows a group of wealthy New York City socialites partying in the Hamptons in the summer. The drunken antics and frequent sexual activity have not sat well with Montauk residents who thought it poorly represented the community.

According to Mr. Zidziunas, the reality show used cellphone footage of the inside and outside of the Surf Lodge, along with aerial drone footage, in the sixth and seventh episodes of the second season. These “egregious actions,” as the letter describes them, were taken without the permission of anyone from the Surf Lodge. Mr. Zidziunas said that Bravo had previously asked permission to film at the Surf Lodge in 2016 and 2017, and that both times the network was turned down.

“They’ve sought a way to circumvent the waiver and permission requirements to shoot footage, and they did it in a very stealth manner,” Mr. Zidziunas said on Monday. “The show decided to create an impression that they [the characters] were partying at the Surf Lodge.”

Steve Kasuba, a publicist for the Surf Lodge, said on Monday that he and other Surf Lodge employees were notified about the footage sometime last week. After seeing the footage himself, Mr. Kasuba said, he and his partners began looking for a legal way to have Bravo remove the footage of the Surf Lodge from the show.

“We think the program sends the wrong message about the hamlet and the property,” Mr. Kasuba said. “The Surf Lodge prefers to be known for its cultural programs,” he said, apparently referring to the resort’s well-attended concerts. “We would never allow anyone to shoot the property for reality show purposes,” he said.

Mr. Zidziunas said Bravo responded to the letter on March 15, asking which episodes showed the footage. The attorney added that the network said it was undertaking an internal investigation of the matter and would report its findings by March 23. If the network failed to respond by that date, Mr. Zidziunas said on Monday, the Surf Lodge planned to bring “injunctive relief” to remove the footage.

“The town would’ve never approved or allowed it,” Mr. Zidziunas said, referring to the filming. “It’s caused irreparable damage to the brand of the Surf Lodge.”

The Town of East Hampton denied the show’s crew permission to film in various public locations, including Kirk Park Beach in Montauk, since it first started rolling cameras in the summer of 2016. While the first season of the show was filmed at a private residence on Napeague Harbor Road in eastern Amagansett, the town denied permission to shoot there for the second season after determining that filming a reality show at the private residence was a “commercial operation,” which violates town zoning code. The second season has been shot at a private residence in Water Mill.

Representatives for Bravo, NBC Universal and Left Hook Media did not respond when asked to comment. Leslie Oren, president of Babygrande PR, which represents another of the show’s production companies, Truly Original, said on Tuesday that it had been made aware that the footage of the Surf Lodge used on the show came from the social media accounts of some of the cast. Ms. Oren said that the show’s film crew didn’t shoot at the Surf Lodge this season and that the footage will be removed from the episodes.