Bravo's Popular 'Summer House' Riles Up Some Montauk Locals

MONTAUK, NY — A popular new Bravo show that's supposed to be set in Montauk has some locals seeing red.

"Summer House," which airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on Bravo, has already garnered an audience — but others say the show is an unfair representation of the Montauk they know and love. And they're fighting mad.

Here's how Bravo has described the show:

"For years this group of friends has spent their weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day in one of the most exclusive beach areas on the East Coast. These professionals may keep it together during the week, but as soon as they hit the beach on the weekend, they let loose in a big, aspirational way that is exclusive to this high-end lifestyle."

But, from steamy hot tub scenes to a beach house crowded with nine friends, locals say the show casts a negative light on Montauk.

Montauk Chamber of Commerce President Paul Monte spoke to Patch this week.

Monte said he takes umbrage at the fact that the show spotlights nine friends staying in a summer house, something that's "flaunting the law," as the practice is not currently allowed under town code. "To us, that's flagrantly saying, 'Okay, guys, come on out and get a share house. 'Summer House' has nine people. . .come out and do the same. "

Jason Tolbert, director of publicity for BabyGrande PR, which handles publicity for the production company behind Summer House, responded to the issue in an email: "The rental registry law states that up to four unrelated people can be registered for the house. In this case, five people were legally registered, as two of them were related (the Wirkus sisters). The other four cast members featured in the show were simply visitors (the fact that they’re visitors is actually addressed in the series)."

Monte maintains, however, that he believes the show is "violating, at least, the spirit of the law" in East Hampton.

Monte said some businesses and private homes that gave the show access "didn't realize the impact of this type of show early on."

And now, Monte said, he and others are working to create new regulations that would require permits to film inside or on private property.

"The show is awful. Montauk shouldn't even be referenced in it, as far as I'm concerned," Monte said.

Moving forward, Monte said he's been in touch with the network and has sought "legal representation." The aim, he said, is "to request that they reduce or eliminate references to Montauk, to the fullest extent possible. We have seen some movement on their part to ameliorate the situation by adjusting promos and trailers before the show."

One trailer, shown below, had a quote that said: "Everyone's heard of the Hamptons. That's like your mom's friend who wears pearls. My group of friends, we go to Montauk. Montauk is like your mom's friend's daughter, who's a little promiscuous. And by a little, I mean a lot."

That's since been changed to say, "The Hamptons, that’s like your mom’s friend who wears pearls. The East End is like the cool surfer chick, who’s a little promiscuous. And by a little, I mean a lot.”

According to a source close to the production who asked not to be named, the show shot across the entire East End and not in any one location.

On the whole, Monte said, "From what we've seen so far, we're not happy at all by what's been produced. We believe it puts Montauk in a very bad and dishonest light. We hope that it ends as quickly as possible."

Monte added that feedback from the community echoes the Chamber's stance "that this show doesn't in any way portray the true Montauk. People are ready to boycott the show — and its advertisers. It's a completely distasteful, abysmal portray of a Montauk that is foreign to most of us that live here."

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said the town denied Bravo a permit to film last summer. "We were also obviously provided some awareness where they were filming on private property. Town law only requires a permit to film on public property. We are going to change this so it applies to both public and private in the future."

Cantwell, however, said the town was aware that the house had been rented and that "some filming activity" had taken place, but the home's rental had adhered to the town's rental registry law.

'There's nothing in our law that says more than four people can't be in in a house. You can't have more than four unrelated people residing in a house; i.e, sleeping there. We're not aware of a specific violation at that location — and our police department and code enforcement did not observe commercial filming taking place on public property." He said the town did not observe "any violations of the zoning, filming or rental law."

Cantwell, who hasn't yet seen the show, which premiered on Jan. 16, said he is "very aware of the content."

Artistic license is another issue, the supervisor said.

"The other side of the is the town doesn’t regulate the content of art, for good reason. We have a Constitution. Having said that, we're certainly aware of and agree with those that believe this is an exploitation of the community. We strongly object to that, but beyond raising our verbal concern over it, the town can't take legal action based on content."

Back in June, the show filmed, despite refusal on the part of the East Hampton Town board to approve a permit for the proceedings.

According to Cantwell, the town received an application from True Entertainment, which was reviewed by the town's permit committee. Town officials met with representatives of True Entertainment, he said.

"We advised them that we didn't think filming at this time of year, and at the locations they had chosen, was advisable, and told them that we would not issue a permit," Cantwell said.

But that didn't stop the film crews, he said. "They are going forward. They are there," he said. "We understand that some filming has commenced on private property and that property owners have given them permission to do so. We are monitoring the situation very carefully so that they don't violate any of our local codes."

The company, he said, consulted with local attorneys and others with respect to town code. "If they choose to violate that code, we'll be prepared," Cantwell said.

Cantwell said he'd heard that the new Bravo show was filming at the Amagansett IGA, a restaurant in Bridgehampton, with some filming at a private residence, too.

Some were thrilled with the show and the filming.

Fernando Torres, manager of the Amagansett IGA, confirmed that the crew filmed at the store. "It was exciting. It was great," he said.

Photo courtesy of Gary Kuehn.

Video courtesy of YouTube.