Oprah Winfrey might have an ungodly legal situation on her hands.
Winfrey is being sued by a pastor and another person who claim that the Oprah Winfrey Network series “Greenleaf” is a ripoff of their idea.
The suit, filed in federal court in California on Thursday by Shannan Lynette Wynn and Pastor Lester Eugene Barrie, starts off with a nod to the sexual harassment scandal that’s recently plagued the entertainment industry before moving on to its specific complaint of alleged copyright infringement.
“Hollywood has been the subject of extreme scrutiny due to revelations of what has been an undisclosed, decades-long history of abuse, sexual harassment and discrimination by those in power,” the suit reads. “On a different front, and just as pervasive, has been the flagrant pilfering of the creative; specifically, the victimization of the hard-working, dedicated writers, authors and creators whose toil and artistic works have been stolen, misattributed and exploited by the unscrupulous and untouchable titans and high-status players of the entertainment industry. Creative theft, in Hollywood, has become a cottage industry. “
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs submitted a treatment for a project titled “Justice & Glory” to the defendants, and while Barrie and Wynn were later told that their idea had been rejected, “Years later, Plaintiffs saw their work produced and exploited by Defendants under a different name: ‘Greenleaf.’”
The suit doesn’t mince words, calling the defendants’ actions “blatant” and “arrogant.”
Continue reading at The Wrap
