A ‘pariah’ once more?

A federal jury continued to deliberate yesterday over the fate of four Teamsters accused of extortion in the “Top Chef” case, but one thing is already crystal clear. Long after the trial is over Boston will likely continue to reap what the Teamsters, in their demand for the exclusive right to production work in this area, have sown. Surely it is no coincidence that the number of reality television shows choosing to film in Massachusetts has dropped dramatically, as the Herald reported yesterday.

In 2013, 10 reality shows filmed seasons or episodes in Massachusetts. In 2014, in addition to the season of “Top Chef” filming, another 11 shows filmed in the area, the Herald reported.

But there were only three such shows listed as having filmed in Massachusetts in 2015 and another three in 2016. Only one show is listed so far in 2017.

Now, needs change and the entertainment industry is a capricious one, to be sure. The Massachusetts Film Office notes that its list is not comprehensive, since it doesn’t include shows that might handle their own logistics or be ineligible for film tax credits.

But we’ve all been down this road before. Boston became a notorious place to avoid after previous scandals involving the Teamsters — a “celluloid pariah,” in the words of retired Judge Robert Barton in a 2001 report commissioned in the midst of a different controversy. For a time the Teamsters made efforts to improve their image in Hollywood, but somewhere along the line some union officials apparently decided that it was good business, well, not to actually kill the golden goose, but to at least threaten and intimidate it into submission.

Even if the defendants in this case are acquitted it is clear from the evidence that they engaged in conduct that was reprehensible (just review “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi’s testimony from last week). The jury may determine that such conduct was not illegal, but it was plainly indefensible — and the proof of the damage seems to be showing up in the numbers.