Aborigines Let 'Survivor' Have It

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/05/2001 at 10:30 AM EDT

A group of Aborigines have filed suit against the producers of the CBS hit reality series "Survivor: The Australian Outback." David Hudson, known as the King of the Didgeridoo (a traditional Aussie quasi-musical instrument that resembles a long pipe and which emits a low, moaning sound), claims that the show used Aboriginal music without paying his tribe or even giving them credit. Hudson told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper that "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett reneged on his promise to pay didgeridoo players a slice of the profits from a proposed CD featuring music from the show. "They definitely exploited us," said Hudson. "We gave them our music in good faith, and they gave us nothing . . . They took us for a ride." The CD never happened. No comment from "Survivor" producers.