Stiffed by 'Bar Rescue', local artist calls 5 On Your Side

A local artist who was hired to help with a reality television show that revamps bars said she didn't get paid for her work until she called 5 On Your Side.

Producers of the Spike TV show "Bar Rescue" hired Tonia Michno Gebhart in April to paint the walls at Cashmere Nightclub and Lounge, now called Dual Ultra Nightclub, in Raleigh's Glenwood South area.

Gebhart, a fan of the show, was excited to participate.

"I heard who they were and I'm like, 'you're kidding me, right?'" she said. 

She said producers agreed to pay her $1,500 to paint gradient stripes on the walls.

"There were so many ladders and so many contractors here that you were over top each other. It was challenging, but it was fun," Gebhart said. "I worked that morning until one at night, went home, took a 3-hour nap, got back up here at 4:30 or 5. Didn't stop until they ran everybody out."

As instructed, she sent producers an invoice for her work. That was early April. 

After more than a dozen emails, she had nothing but empty promises for payment.

"Super nice responses: 'Yeah, sorry it's been overlooked. The check is in the mail,'" Gebhart said. 

But when the episode aired on July 3 – three months after she was hired – Gebhart called 5 On Your Side.

"Not until we mentioned you guys, did we get such a quick response," she said. 

The show sent a check via FedEx and it arrived two days later.

"They're a really great group of people to work with, just when you get past (the fact that) when they leave town, it's very difficult to work with them," she said. 

5 On Your Side called and emailed Spike TV several times for comment but didn't hear back.