"The Hills" Shows Staged Wedding, Fake Judge
LOS ANGELES — "The Hills" personalities Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag recently went to a Beverly Hills courthouse to get married, but questions remained Wednesday about whether the service actually happened.
Pratt also teased doubters without definitively proving the couple's nuptials, telling Ryan Seacrest on Seacrest's morning radio show that he and Montag took steps to keep their marriage license confidential.
A Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman said Tuesday that MTV was granted permission to film inside a courtroom for a wedding scene, but the taping occurred after-hours and without a judge's participation.
MTV released a statement Wednesday that said Pratt and Montag were filmed at the courthouse, but stopped short of saying whether the ceremony was completed.
"MTV crews captured Heidi and Spencer at the Beverly Hills Courthouse with the deputy commissioner who handles all civil unions," the statement read.
Court spokesman Alan Parachini said he was told by a staffer that the service was interrupted when Montag became upset and ran from the courtroom. He did not know if she returned to complete the ceremony.
A deputy commissioner is not a judicial officer but is a person designated by the county recorder's office to perform civil ceremonies. The recorder's office said it had no public record that Pratt and Montag were married, or that a deputy commissioner available after-hours was requested.
The courthouse scene became necessary after Pratt, 25, and Montag, 22, acknowledged that their Nov. 19 marriage ceremony near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, was symbolic. The couple had appeared on the Nov. 26 cover of Us Weekly with the headline "Heidi & Spencer Elope!" but they didn't take the proper steps to have a legally binding service in Mexico.
Monday's episode of "The Hills" depicted the pair spontaneously agreeing to exchange vows after downing several shots of tequila.
Moments later, a tease for the fourth season finale of MTV's "The Hills" show Pratt and Montag walking into a courtroom with Pratt's sister, Stephanie Pratt. A man who appeared to be a judge smiled down on them from the bench.
"I, Heidi, take thee, Spencer," Montag coos in the preview.
MTV said the ceremony was filmed after-hours to avoid disruptions to other couples getting married that day.
But the scene portrayed is a departure from the typical wedding at the courthouse, which includes a wedding chapel.
The season-finale preview features a wood-paneled courtroom with the California state seal on the wall behind a smiling, robe-clad judge. If a judge does preside, it is typically in chambers during a break, Parachini said.
He said it was impossible for his office to verify whether the ceremony was completed. "We're not in the marriage business," Parachini said.
Pratt or Montag can get married in any county in California, as well as opt for a confidential license, which exempts it from public-record searches _ and is how Pratt taunted doubters Wednesday.
Appearing on Seacrest's broadcast on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, Pratt said his claims couldn't be proved wrong.
"We checked the confidentiality box, so good luck, people," Pratt told Seacrest, according to a recap on the station's Web site.
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December 17, 2008 09:05 PM EST |
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