Former Big Brother contestant Shilo Shalom has filed a lawsuit against the National Insurance Institute, demanding recognition of what he claims is a lasting disability stemming from an injury he sustained while washing dishes during the 2024 season of the reality show.
In the claim submitted to the regional labor court in Bat Yam, Shalom details the incident, which occurred at the show’s filming location in Neve Ilan. “During filming, I was washing dishes when a glass shattered in my right hand, causing a cut to my fourth finger. I received stitches at a medical clinic,” he wrote in his affidavit.
“Four days later, my hand swelled. I went to the hospital where they found an infection. I underwent surgery and was hospitalized with antibiotics. They reopened my hand and finger to drain the pus.”
Shalom says the injury continues to affect him. “Today I have limited mobility, constant itching and I can’t fully close the finger. I’ve lost sensation in half of it,” he said.
His original request for disability benefits was rejected by the National Insurance Institute, which stated that Shalom was not insured as a salaried employee, arguing that no employer-employee relationship was proven between him and Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother.
Now appealing the decision, Shalom is seeking to establish that he was indeed an employee of the show. In his lawsuit, he notes he was paid approximately 5,000 shekels (about $1,300) per week and insists he was not participating voluntarily. “I was hired by the production company to play a character until either the audience or the producers ended the contract,” he said.
Shalom also alleges that after his injury, the show’s producers placed him up for elimination alongside all remaining contestants and decided he would be voted out. He further claims that producers asked him not to wear a bandage during the live broadcast to maintain the character he was portraying.
In response, the National Insurance Institute said: “To receive work disability benefits, a claimant must prove the injury caused loss of work capacity and that an employee-employer relationship existed. In both the contract he signed and his own lawsuit, Shalom states there was no such relationship. Therefore, the claim contradicts the law. If the Big Brother production recognizes him as an employee, he may reapply. It should be noted that a similar claim against the production was reportedly dismissed in the past.”
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