The Electric Barbarellas were an Americanall-femaleelectropop group whose career with producerMidi Mafia was depicted in a short-lived, critically panned, eponymousreality show that ran for one season onMTV.[1]
In 2010,Viacom CEOSumner Redstone personally paid over $500,000 to fly the group to New York to meet with record labels while filming a reality-TV series based on the trip, after asking then-Viacom CEOPhilippe Dauman to give one of his romantic pursuits an MTV series.[2] Redstone then forced Viacom-ownedMTV to air the series. MTV executives originally balked at airing it because it was "so bad" but their resistance almost cost MTV's then-CEO Judy McGrath her job.[3] Les Moonves also arranged for the series to be promoted on CBS, as a favor to Redstone.[2]
The series ended with a phone call from a record executive provoking much shrieking, but the group quickly faded into obscurity once the show ended.[4]
The group performed the song "Without You" onThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on May 27, 2011.[5] In their 2023 bookUnscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy,James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams said that the Barbarellas were "singing wildly off pitch" in thatLate Late Show appearance and that Moonves "dreaded" the requests by Redstone to promote the group on CBS.[6]
Two years later, Naylor hired Joe Simpson (father ofAshlee andJessica Simpson) to audition new members for the group, under the new name The Alectrix.[10] Again, the ordeal was filmed as a reality-TV series and aired on MTV.[4] And again, soon after the series ended, the group faded quickly into obscurity.
Later, Naylor was sued by Sumner Redstone's girlfriend Sydney Holland for allegedly stealing her laptop. Naylor counter-sued, claiming Holland negatively influenced Redstone to intentionally interfere with the success of The Alectrix, however Naylor eventually dropped the lawsuit.[11]
