Abby Lee Miller Not Guilty Of Assaulting Dance Moms Cast Member

Last October, Paige Hyland filed a lawsuit against her dance coach and Dance Moms star Abby Lee Miller over an alleged assault that took place during the filming of Lifetime’s hit reality show. This week, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that after watching relevant clips of the show she didn’t feel that Hyland was in danger when Miller threw a chair at her.

Putting aside the fact that Judge Ruth Kwan had to actually watch Dance Moms in order to make a ruling (and one of the later seasons! :/), this is the second time that Miller has triumphed against the Hyland family. Before Paige’s own lawsuit, her mother, Kelly Hyland, one of Miller’s former dancers and a major shit-stirrer on the show, had also filed a lawsuit alleging that Miller had defamed her and her daughters and caused the family emotional distress. That suit was thrown out as well, although the judge didn’t (as some would expect) just go “¯_(ツ)_/¯, you were on reality TV.”

The Hyland family has left Miller’s studio (which is fine, because Paige and Brooke were never going to beat Maddie), but Kwan pointed out that they didn’t leave quickly enough for her to worry about Paige’s safety or award any damages in the current lawsuit because the Hylands waited more than a year before storming out while Miller angrily wheezed at them (does anyone else notice that she always starts the episode in normal voice and then gets more and more congested throughout?). Not only could Kwan not see any actual threat in the Dance Moms footage she watched, but Deadline speculates that the fact that Paige’s lawsuit was filed after her mother had filed one herself may have contributed to Kwan’s decision.

The above clip, which Deadline reports was one of the pieces of evidence used to further Paige Hyland’s case does show aln altercation, but it’s Kelly Hyland, not Miller who’s on the attack. In the video, Kelly slaps Miller and pulls her hair before the police are called.

Kelly Hyland maintains that the argument came out of a dispute about the “bullying and insulting” way Miller was treating her daughters. The suit also alleged that Miller had violently grabbed other students and pinched at least one until she broke the skin. Kelly’s lawsuit also alleges that Miller was paid by production to be mean and bullying and to provoke arguments amongst cast members. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

The Hylands are currently considering an appeal and Deadline reports that Kelly will move forward with her own lawsuit against the show’s producers.