‘Dance Moms’ Lawsuit Update: Kelly Hyland, Family Take A Hit In Suits Against Abby Lee Miller

There is an update in the ongoing legal saga involving Dance Moms stars Abby Lee Miller and Kelly Hyland. After a physical battle a year ago involving Kelly and Abby, legal charges and lawsuits came in to play. Now, a judge has issued a ruling regarding the two Hyland lawsuits, though there is still more to come.

Kelly Hyland and her daughter, Paige Hyland, have filed lawsuits against Miller and series producers Collins Avenue Entertainment. The former Dance Moms stars were alleging emotional distress and defamation along with breach of contract. According to Deadline, a judge has now thrown out the emotional distress and defamation pieces of the lawsuits.

A hearing regarding the $5 million Hyland lawsuit against Miller and producers Collins Avenue Entertainment was held in August, but the ruling just came out of the Los Angeles court this week. Judge Ruth Kwan had indicated in August that she would likely throw out those components of the lawsuits and now it has happened.

Miller and Hyland have both gone after one another with claims of assault, and the breach of contract allegations still need to play out. However, the Dance Moms stars from the Hyland family losing the other components of the lawsuit will surely feel like a hit.

The drama came about after a November 2013 clash, caught on camera, between Kelly and Abby. Brooke, Paige and Kelly never appeared on the show again and after some social media and on-camera battles between the two, the rest will play out over the coming months in court. Neither star at this point has commented on the latest court ruling or said anything about it via social media.

When the Hylands filed the lawsuits, they alleged that drama with Miller was encouraged to build ratings. After the fight, Miller spoke quite poorly of Hyland during an appearance on The View, which is where Kelly’s defamation claims came from. However, it seems that Miller’s lawyers successfully argued that Abby’s comments were argued to fall under free speech.

Hyland also says that she was suspended from the show but never received anything in writing regarding being dropped, thus the breach of contract. She says she is still owed money from the show. Kelly Hyland had filed a lawsuit in February and a second filing on Paige’s behalf was filed just last month. That lawsuit added new details regarding Abby’s alleged treatment of Paige and the girls throughout Dance Moms.

While Dance Moms viewers are unlikely to see anything more than a passing reference to the Hylands pop up on-screen going forward, there is still plenty going on behind the scenes. Should Kelly Hyland and her daughters Paige and Brooke get some compensation for what they went through with Abby Lee Miller and the show?

[Image via Scott Gries/Lifetime]