Kristin Cavallari Accuses MTV Of “Taking Advantage” Of ‘Laguna Beach’ Cast: “We Were Very Young To Have Our Lives Manipulated Like That”

Not everything was blue skies and sandy beaches for the stars of Laguna Beach, according to Kristin Cavallari.

While looking back on her tenure on the MTV reality series in an interview with Bustle, she told the outlet, “I think I walked away from Laguna Beach thinking that I was the only one MTV messed with and I got the sh*tty end of the deal, and I took everything so personally,” per Page Six.

However, she said that she ultimately discovered that “they fucked with everybody the same way they fucked with [her].”

“We were very young to have our lives manipulated like that,” she continued.

Among the show’s other stars were Lauren “Lo” Bosworth, Stephen Colletti, Lauren Conrad, Trey Phillips, Talan Torriero, and Jason Wahler.

Nonetheless, she insisted that she was “not complaining about it,” and expressed her gratitude for the experience.

“I’m so thankful for the show,” she added. “I think it can be both things — I can feel like we were taken advantage of, and I can also be thankful for it.”

Having started the show at 17 years old, she highlighted that “no one really knows who they are” at that age, noting that “it definitely made [her] be like, ‘I am not that girl on TV, but if there’s even a slight part of me that is, I know that I don’t want to be that.’”

“So maybe it actually was a blessing in disguise and made me be a nicer person in general,” she continued.

Cavallari, who went on to star in the reality series’ spin-off The Hills and eventually her own show, Very Cavallari, reflected on being “rail fucking thin” while shooting the latter during an episode of her Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari podcast in June.

“That was being in a very unhappy marriage,” she shared, referencing her relationship with Jay Cutler. “I was so unhappy. And I also had way too much on my plate, which again, I think they kind of go hand in hand. I was so unhappy that I was just trying to max out.”

All three seasons of Laguna Beach are streaming on Paramount+.