The Truth About The Relationship Between Storage Wars' Brandi Passante And Dave Hester
Every story needs a villain. When it comes to Storage Wars on A&E, there's no bigger villain than Dave Hester. Yuuup — that Dave, the on-again, off-again foil to good guy cast members Darrel Sheets, Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz. Though some of the originals have since left the show (Sheets and Hester last appeared in 2017), you could still find many classic characters duking it out for the best shed full of abandoned treasure (via IMDB). Looking back through the years, there have been some sarcastic and unflattering exchanges between these teams, but many think it's just for entertainment. When it comes to Passante and Hester, however, there doesn't seem to be any acting skill needed.
Spoiler: They really don't like each other. When asked at a History Con Live Q&A if Dave was really as big of a jerk as he looks, Passante's simple answer was, "Yes," (via Inquisitr).
Her now-ex elaborated, "If it appears as if Dave is getting on my nerves, it's because Dave is getting on my nerves." Even as the show began initially, Hester didn't start out warm towards either of the Young Guns. "I was poor Jarrod and Brandi 25 years ago, and nobody cut me any slack," Hester told the O.C. Register in 2011. "I'm not there to make friends; I'm there to make a profit and pay my operating costs." Things only seem to have gotten worse from there.
Dave Hester has caused some big problems
Yuuup, you better believe that Dave Hester has made himself the least liked crew member on the show, especially to the show's female cast. He's been documented by TMZ for hitting the female part of the show's auctioneer duo Laura Dotson, prompting her impassioned response, "You like hitting a woman? You like knocking a gal on the god damn ground? You like throwing a gal?" (via IB Times).
He's sued A&E — more than once, actually (via Distractify). His comments have been accused of being misogynistic, including written accusations that "Nearly every aspect of the Series is faked, even down to the plastic surgery that one of the female cast members underwent in order to create more 'sex appeal' for the show" (via Deadline).
And when it comes to real life, it seems customers of Dave Hester Auctions share the same opinion as much of the cast. A one-star review from summer 2020 describes "Hester is trash who buys trash then overestimates it's value [sic], like, he overestimates himself." Another reviewer from the same time period adds, "Just say NOOOOOPE TO DAVE HESTER AUCTIONS." (via Google Reviews). Clearly, sometimes bad people make good TV.