This Heated Storage Wars Moment Between Dave And Dan Is Still Difficult To Watch
Who would have thought that a reality show about people bidding on abandoned storage lockers would even be interesting, let alone be the source of so much drama? "Storage Wars" debuted in 2010 and continued on until 2019, then returned in 2021, and has been one of A&E's most surprising hits. One of the cast members to, if nothing else, consistently keep things interesting on the show, is Dave Hester. Hester once famously sued the network, alleging that the show was staged. The network fired Hester for making these allegations, but, once Hester and the network reached a settlement in the suit, he returned to the show he had once accused of being fake. Executive producer Thom Beers ended up admitting to feeding lines to the cast to avoid having to use narration and consolidating multiple auctions into one to make the show more interesting.
That's not the only big controversy that sprung up regarding the show. "Storage Wars" has been the source of dramatic headlines for a number of reasons, many of them involving lawsuits, criminal histories, and Dave Hester. Hester tried to sue musician Trey Songz over use of his catchphrase "Yuuup!" (the two settled out of court). Then there was Mark Balelo, the buyer with the troubled past of criminal history and drug use. Then there was the time that a man named Hunter Moore made a porn claiming to feature cast member Brandi Passante (it didn't). Passante won her suit, but her award was reduced to only $750 by a judge.
With so many issues revolving around the show that range from hilarious to tragic, it's easy to see why the exploits and antics of these people who buy and sell abandoned storage lockers is so entertaining. But one explosive moment in the show's 8th season remains a little hard to watch.
Dan Dotson and Dave Hester got in a fight
In season 8, episode 7, entitled "Palm Springs Throwdown," auctioneer Dan Dotson was conducting an auction with his wife Laura by his side. After declaring the winner of the auction, a woman named Mary claimed that Dotson had ignored her bid. Hester pointed this out and said that the auctioneer has the right to re-open the auction, but Dotson decided not to do so. This led to something that can only be found on basic cable reality television: grown men fistfighting over the contents of a storage locker.
To both men's credit, watching the auction scene on television hardly clears anything up. Mary clearly raises her hand, but it's hard to hear her and her action could have been seen as an attempt to make a bid, but it could have just as easily been that she was passing on the bid. Regardless, what ensues is fairly juvenile, as Dotson and Hester get into a physical altercation. Laura attempts to assist her husband, pulling Hester off him and smacking him on the back of the head, only for him to throw her to the ground.
Keep in mind, this confrontation all happened after Hester's lawsuit, firing, and subsequent return to the series. In light of all of Hester's accusations as well as Beers' admission to staging parts of the show, can anyone be sure that this schoolyard-style brawl was real?
Maybe it was all staged
After the fight aired, a number of fans started questioning how genuine the fight really was. In a thread on Reddit, appropriately posted in the subreddit r/cringe, viewers debated the authenticity of the fight. One user, u/589547521563, declared "This is staged and fake." On the other hand, u/Xplic1t remarked "look at how he snaps and throws down Dan's wife ... [don't] think it was staged." Then u/TenXeXo pointed to the way that Laura fell, claiming that it looked like a fake fall.
TMZ obtained what they said was candid camera phone footage of the incident's aftermath, supporting the suggestion that the fight was not staged. TMZ also claimed that Hester ended up in the hospital to get a tetanus shot because Laura's nails drew blood. It should, of course, be noted that TMZ has a record of less-than-perfect reliability, and there's always the possibility that TMZ fell for a publicity stunt. So, it may be hard to tell if the scene is real or not, but it's absolutely cringeworthy to watch.