Jensen Ackles Named In ‘The Winchesters’ Lawsuit Over Set Safety

Actor Jensen Ackles has been named in a lawsuit filed by a cameraman who alleges that he was struck by lightning on the set of "The Winchesters."

Ackles, who served as executive producer on "The Winchesters," starred as Dean Winchester on the hit CW series "Supernatural," which ran for 15 seasons from 2005 to 2020. "The Winchesters" was a spin-off show that focused on the lives of his parents, John and Mary Winchester; however, it was canceled after one season.

Actor Jensen Ackles, who served as an executive producer on “The Winchesters,” The CW Network, and Warner Bros. is being sued by a crew member on “The Winchesters” who has accused the studio of ignoring set safety during dangerous weather conditions.

Last year, “The Winchesters” was filming in Louisiana when production was stalled due to heavy rain, according to a complaint filed by first assistant camera operator Bryan DeLorenzo, which was filed last Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. DeLorenzo says he voiced complaints about set safety but was told to keep filming, and was subsequently struck by lightning.

The lawsuit accuses the production of negligence and asserts that the studio violated safety rules regarding when a production must shut down if lightning strikes within a certain distance of where they happen to be filming at the time.

According to the court documents, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Bryan DeLorenzo maintains that production was stalled due to numerous weather delays. He claims that director John Showalter allegedly changed the scene to be filmed in the rain in order to avoid any more delays and told the crew to keep filming, even though DeLorenzo felt it was not safe to do so.

The complaint states: “Within ten minutes of this conversation, Plaintiff was standing next to a camera when a loud ‘boom’ occurred.” DeLorenzo claims that he “saw a bright white light and then lightning struck him, knocking him unconscious.” He later woke up in the emergency room.

According to the lawsuit, production must immediately shut down if lightning strikes an area within a 6-mile area of the film set. Crew members reportedly must wait at least thirty minutes after the lightning has passed to resume production again. The lawsuit cites several safety procedures on “The Winchesters” that the cameraman feels were violated.

Several days before he was allegedly struck by lightning, DeLorenzo says that he talked to safety officers on set and the production coordinator about what to do when trying to film in bad weather conditions. According to the court documents, they allegedly told him to purchase lightning detector products and weather apps.

First assistant camera operator Bryan DeLorenzo is now suing Warner Bros., The CW Network, and executive producer Jensen Ackles, who starred in both “Supernatural” and “The Winchesters” for compensatory and punitive damages for physical injuries, pain, and emotional distress, among other things. Jensen Ackles has not addressed the lawsuit on social media, although he did take to X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier this year to announce that "The Winchesters" would not be getting a second season.

After The CW decided not to give “The Winchesters” a second season, Ackles tried to shop “The Winchesters” to other networks without much success. In June 2023, he thanked “Supernatural” fans for watching and admitted that there were no plans for any more spin-off shows due to the writer’s strike.

“To all of you who watched, followed, and supported this story, THANK YOU. And to all those who brought this show to life…I couldn’t be more proud of what we all did together,” he tweeted at the time.

“But as they say…timing is everything. With a massive Network shift coupled with an industry strike…welp…that’s some unfortunate timing,” he added. “Sleep well dear @WinchestersOnCW …until we meet again. Somewhere down the road.”