Who would have thought that a show based around the premise of bidding on abandoned storage units would attract millions of viewers every episode from all around the world? Well, that is exactly what the popular reality TV series, Storage Wars, was able to prove. After debuting almost seven years ago, the franchise has become one of A&E’s biggest hits to date.

The show seems to have gained a cult following thanks to the suspense of not knowing what the cast members are going to get. Is the storage unit going to hold expensive jewelry, cars, motorcycles, cash, artwork or possibly nothing at all? It’s like putting your hand into the lucky dip basket and hoping you hit the jackpot. For this very reason, the show has skyrocketed into success. Everybody loves a good mystery!

However, like all good reality TV shows, Storage Wars isn’t without its fair share of drama as one particular cast member filed a lawsuit against the franchise after claiming he was unjustly terminated from his position on the show. That’s right; the lawsuit was filed by none other than the “YUUUP!” man himself, Dave Hester. While the circumstances surrounding the lawsuit are not ideal, the 15 page report provides several juicy secrets about the show.

From DUI’s, murders, convicted felons, and even claims that the show is staged, here are 15 shocking secrets that the cast of Storage Wars don’t want you to know about the show.

15. A Cast Member’s Son Was Convicted Of First Degree Murder

You would be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Storage Wars: Miami as this particular spin-off didn’t perform as well as its flagship show in California. After several successful spin-off shows in Texas, New York, and Canada, Storage Wars: Miami was cut short after ten episodes aired in late 2015.

The spin-off series was cancelled after Kevin Pew’s son Hashim shot and killed family friend, Janel Hamilton – seemingly for no real reason at all. According to the arrest report, Pew had used a .45 calibre semi-automatic firearm during the shooting, which was later identified as a gun that was stolen during a car burglary in Central Florida in 2008.

14. A Brawl Broke Out Between Two Cast Members

In June 2015, TMZ reported that two A&E reality stars were involved in a big brawl and punches were thrown during a video shoot in Palm Springs for the show. According to the site, Dan Dotson was holding an auction when according to witnesses; he missed a bid placed by cast member, Mary Padian.

Producers then reportedly asked Hester to inform Dan of his mistake, but Dan completely ignored the comment. When approached again, Dan became enraged and started screaming “F**k you, David! I’m going to kill you!”

This comment caused Hester to punch Dan in the face, and Dan retaliated by punching Hester in the eye. Laura, Dan’s wife, then jumped on Hester’s back and was tossed through the air. Eventually though, security intervened and broke up the fight.

13. A Popular Cast Member Is a Medical Marijuana User

Barry Weiss is arguably one of the most popular cast members of the Storage Wars franchise thanks to his laid back lifestyle and stress free appearance. It is quite clear that Weiss is simply in the game for fun and has little to no financial stake when bidding on the lockers. However, there may be another reason why Weiss is so laid back as revealed during an interview in 2012 with Wisconsin’s Big Cheese on 107.9FM: he is indeed a user of medical marijuana.

While Weiss claims that the drug helps relieve the pain from an old back injury, it is understandable as to why his usage was kept under wraps throughout the series as the topic of medical marijuana is still very touchy subject – especially when you have millions of very opinionated people watching your every move.

12. Budget Cuts Resulted In A Cast Member Being Fired

Not even celebrities are safe from the looming fear of budget cuts and redundancies as the father and son duo, Darrell and Brandon Sheets, are no more! Announced via a string of frustrated tweets on Twitter, Brandon shared that he will no longer be affiliated with the Storage Wars franchise due to budget cuts.

According to Sheets, he felt that he was degraded by the show and certain people didn’t appreciate what he brought to the table. After sharing more information, Sheets concluded that he just wished he was treated more like a person throughout the situation.

Despite the ordeal of being cut from the latest season of Storage Wars, Brandon has thankfully managed to secure a new career as a licensed real estate agent in California and Arizona.

11. One Cast Member Is A Convicted Felon

Ever since the very first episode, you would have noticed that Jarrod Schulz is a dedicated father and business owner, but you will be shocked to know that Schulz has a dark past as a convicted felon.

According to multiple reports, Schulz was initially arrested on January 27, 1997 for the possession of a controlled substance. Jarrod later pleaded guilty to the charges for the possession of methamphetamine and received a 60-day sentence. Schulz only served part of his sentence before being released on probation.

Unfortunately, his freedom was short lived as he was busted just a few weeks later for transporting narcotics and driving under the influence of alcohol. For this crime, Schulz served a sentence of 16 months in state prison.

Thankfully though, Jarrod’s time behind bars changed him for the better and ultimately helped set him on his path to success.

10. The Lockers Are Apparently Staged

Let’s all be honest, we have all doubted the authenticity of reality TV shows, especially ones like Storage Wars since the cast often overreacts and coincidentally finds treasures while rummaging through lockers filled with garbage.

However, many were still surprised to find out that almost every aspect of the show was either staged or scripted in some form. Hester claims that the storage lockers are often “salted” with valuable items to increase the drama and excitement of the episode which is something that Hester was very vocally against.

What’s even more surprising is that when questioned, the show’s creator, Thom Beers, never denied these claims. Instead. he simply reminded people that given the nature of the show, it needs to remain entertaining otherwise nobody would watch it.

9. The Show Paid Brandi To Have Breast Augmentation Surgery

Given today’s current world, especially within Hollywood, you would think by now that the days of sleazy Hollywood executives would be long gone. But thanks to new information revealed during Dave Hester’s lawsuit, we learn that not even the cast of Storage Wars is safe from these sleazy television executives.

During the lawsuit, Hester revealed some rather shocking details about one particular female cast members – Brandi Passente. According to Hester, he claims that Original Productions paid for Brandi to undergo plastic surgery in order to enhance her breasts. Hester stated that the surgery was conducted in order to increase the show’s sex appeal and boost her popularity among the mainly predominate male audience.

8. Barry Weiss Was Involved In A Nazi ‘Gag Gift’ Incident

Remember that time that Jesse James had a rather regrettable public meltdown after admitting that he had cheated on his wife, Sandra Bullock? Well you will be surprised to know that one Storage Wars cast member may actually be responsible for the infamous photographs that surfaced of James wearing a Nazi SS officer’s hat, while also doing a Sieg Heil salute.

After the incident went public, James attempted to seek support from his ‘Jewish Godfather’, Barry Weiss – the same person that James claims gave him the ‘gag gift’ in the first place. Weiss denied these claims and allegedly told James that he couldn’t afford to get mixed up in all this drama as Storage Wars was premiering later in the year.

Given the recent events, had this incident happened now, it would surely be a career-ending move for both Jesse James and Barry Weiss.

7. A DUI Led One Cast Member To His Successful Buying & Selling Business

YUUUP! That’s right; the cast member that was convicted of a DUI was none other than the successful business man, Dave Hester.

Hester was no stranger to the buying and selling industry. He had attended swap meets with his father and owned a used furniture store, but it wasn’t until 2005 when he finally decided to make the change in careers.

Arguably one of Hester’s worse mistakes, he was convicted of a DUI in 2005 and was sentenced to 30 days community service at a Goodwill store. But in what seems like a shocking twist of events, instead of hating the position, Hester quickly found himself falling in love with the practice of buying and selling used goods.

Not long after, Hester decided to convert his furniture store into a successful thrift operation.

6. The Cast Earn Significant Amounts Of Money

It isn’t very often that stars share their salary with the world, but thanks to Dave Hester’s lawsuit, the precise amount of his earnings for the fourth season has been revealed. Let’s just say, it’s a lot more than you would have ever imagined.

According to Hester’s lawsuit, searching through other people’s left behind junk will earn him a staggering $25,000 per episode with a guaranteed minimum of 26 episodes. On top of the pay per episode, Hester would receive “a non-accountable expense account of $124,500”, along with a “$25,000 signing bonus”.

While the compensation packages for the other cast members hasn’t been revealed, it would be safe to say that the cast of Storage Wars won’t be short on money anytime soon.

5. Dave Hester & Trey Songz Battled It Out In Court

One court case obviously wasn’t enough for Dave Hester. In 2011, he received a cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys of Trey Songz demanding that he stop using his signature phrase “YUUUP!” when filming the series.

This prompted Hester to file a lawsuit, in which he states that Songz version “resembles an animal-like or non-human squeal which he beings with a distinct ‘yeeee’ sound before finishing with a squeal-like ‘uuuup’ sound.” Hester claims that his version of “YUUUP!” is different as his monosyllabic sounding guttural auction bidding phrase is meant to convey the meaning of ‘yes’.

After a yearlong battle, the suit was finally settled when both Hester and Songz told a New York federal judge that they had reach an agreement. However, the details were never disclosed.

4. Emails & Receipts Prove Cast Members Planted Items

If it’s not the producers planting items in the supposedly unopened storage lockers, it’s the cast members themselves. According to a series of leaked emails and receipts, the cast may have been at one point responsible for planting items in the lockers – especially during the earlier seasons of the show.

While we do know that the producers have been found guilty of salting the storage lockers in the past without cast members’ consent, new information has surfaced of invoices, checks, and other documentation that proves that cast members claimed compensation for items they planted themselves. Furthermore, some of the items have even been placed and then “discovered” on camera had initially belonged to their own personal collection.

It appears that Storage Wars is nothing but a scripted television show that claims to be reality.

3. The Cast May Not Be Exactly Who You Think They

Say it ain’t so, but reality TV isn’t exactly reality. That’s right; the cast you thought you knew through those seemingly personal interviews throughout the show aren’t actually using their own words. Much like many other – if not all – reality shows, Storage Wars is scripted. Approximately 50% of what the characters say is scripted according to show creator Thom Beers.

Those infamous one-liners and the overall attitudes that made you fall in love with your favourite cast members may have been memorized lines.

The most shocking fact of all is that the cast members of Storage Wars could very well have a completely different personality than their on-screen persona.

2. The Show Gives Financial Support To Weaker Cast Members

Just when you thought Storage Wars couldn’t get any worse, Hester’s lawsuit also seems to confirm that not only are the showrunners staging the show, but they are also supporting weaker cast members financially. The claim states that Original pays for the storage lockers bid on by certain cast members and not others. This is done in order to give weaker cast members an advantage over the more successful and experienced bidders.

Now this particular bit of information is where things get a little bit tricky as it would be fair to assume that not every cast member is being paid as much as Dave Hester. So when taking this into account – and despite the show being staged – it would make sense that A&E would need to assist the weaker cast members financially in order to keep the show seemingly realistic to the audience.

1. The Show Is Built On A Cruel Foundation

No matter how you twist it, the premise behind the Storage Wars franchise is nothing but a dark story as cast members are essentially bidding on belongings that are owned by another person.

While no details regarding the circumstances of the lockers are ever revealed, it is important to note that the previous owners of the storage lockers must likely stumbled into financial issues, simply forgotten they owned a storage unit or even worse, died before any further arrangements could have been made.

That’s right, the cast could be potentially sorting through the belongings of a person that could have died and never left any information about the storage lockers for friends or even family. It almost feels as if the show is based around the idea of stealing – which is a rather harsh foundation to build a show on.

Sources: Radar Online, TMZ, Looper, Starcasm