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.”
“[T]hey didn’t even seek to hide the theft; they used the same character names, and copied verbatim unique and novel storylines, themes, subplots and the overall tone of the show. They even named their antagonist after Plaintiff Pastor Barrie (Pastor Basie in ‘Greenleaf’),” the suit reads.
“The setting of Defendants’ ‘Greenleaf’ is identical to that of Plaintiffs’ ‘Justice & Glory. ‘ Both shows are dramas that take place in the South and center around a powerful, African-American family dynasty and their sprawling megachurch,” the complaint adds. “The families of both shows live together in a mansion-style home sitting on a large plot of land, have private jets and live an affluent lifestyle. Their lives all center around the mega-church activities and people affiliated with the church in one aspect or another.”
“We have not been served with a lawsuit regarding this claim,” an OWN spokesperson told TheWrap on Thursday.
Alleging copyright infringement, breach of implied-infact contract and breach of written contract, the suit seeks damages of $150,000 for each act of infringement, as well as an injunction barring the defendants from infringing on the plaintiffs’ copyright.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
Oprah Winfrey's Major Movie Roles Ranked, From 'The Color Purple' to 'A Wrinkle in Time' (Photos)
For being such a larger than life figure, Oprah Winfrey has gravitated as an actress toward playing more modest women of an ordinary stature. Winfrey is so celebrated as a media personality, she doesn't often get the credit for her versatility, strength and naturalism on screen. That might be in part because, outside of some TV movies for Oxygen and animated voice work, she's limited her projects and only acted in a handful of notable films. Here's how they stack up from worst to best.
7. "Native Son" (1986)
In this forgettable adaptation of an otherwise powerful novel by Richard Wright, Winfrey plays the mother to Bigger Thomas. She goes from stern and strong-willed as she urges her son to find work to warm and desperate once she's pleading for her son's life. This is an early performance for Winfrey, and she'd find more presence in better projects later.
Cinecom Pictures
6. "A Wrinkle in Time" (2018)
Winfrey never plays herself in the movies. And yet in Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time," she's literally larger than life, appearing as a giant in the sky dressed in chain mail and a massive blonde pillow of hair spewing Oprah-isms. But Ava DuVernay doesn't cast her to play a charismatic goddess. Instead, she's there to do what Oprah does best. She brings hope, spirit and positivity to the film, and when she's talking to the film's main character, she has a gift of sounding as though she's talking directly to you.
Walt Disney Pictures
5. "Beloved" (1998)
Winfrey gave her all for the adaptation of Toni Morrison's "Beloved," showing sadness and anger in equal measure on screen. She even went method and simulated the experience of being a slave in preparation. But the film was a sprawling and overlong epic as handled by Jonathan Demme, and the its failure at the box office sent Winfrey into a "depression."
Buena Vista Pictures
4. "Selma" (2014)
Winfrey plays a small but significant role in Ava DuVernay's civil rights drama "Selma." In a powerful scene that isn't tantamount to the plot but is crucial to the movie's punishing fight for justice, Winfrey attempts to register to vote in Alabama and comes face to face with a ruthless clerk trying to find any reason to deny her the right to vote. She quietly and just barely holds her head up to recite the Preamble of the Constitution and prove her civil knowledge. But it's devastating to see someone even like Winfrey humbled by pervasive racism.
Paramount Pictures
3. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" (2017)
In this HBO movie, Winfrey plays a woman searching for a mother she never knew. Henrietta Lacks was the unwitting donor of a tissue sample that was eventually used as a cure for polio and countless other medical advances. But after years of lies and cover ups from the medical community, the Lacks family has grown untrusting and paranoid. Winfrey plays Henrietta Lacks' daughter as unpredictable and volatile, and her performance anchors a movie about how an African-American woman battling her own paranoia comes to terms with her heritage and family's legacy.
HBO
2. "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (2013)
In "The Butler," Winfrey walks a fine line between sweet and motherly -- and even unlikable. She's cheating on her upstanding husband and struggles with drink, but she's still a sage figure in this family's household. She has an incredible scene as she's talking about Sidney Poitier, playing polite until her son insults the dignity of his own father. It's the type of performance where Winfrey is convincing enough playing nice that you're surprised when she reveals she's not a pushover.
TWC
1. "The Color Purple" (1985)
In what is her finest work by a mile, Steven Spielberg got a hold of Winfrey just before she was "Oprah." She's introduced as a "big girl", and on screen she's a loud and proud woman with vitality, charisma and fearless confidence. Looking at her, you know she'll be a star, but she's so boisterous and defiant, you'd hardly expect her to become the warmest, most understanding media personality of the next 30 years. Her early line about fighting her whole life earned her an Oscar nomination, but I feel more sorry for the woman who slapped Oprah in the film and lived to tell the tale.
Warner Bros.
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Where does Oprah’s larger than life role in ”A Wrinkle in Time“ rank?
For being such a larger than life figure, Oprah Winfrey has gravitated as an actress toward playing more modest women of an ordinary stature. Winfrey is so celebrated as a media personality, she doesn't often get the credit for her versatility, strength and naturalism on screen. That might be in part because, outside of some TV movies for Oxygen and animated voice work, she's limited her projects and only acted in a handful of notable films. Here's how they stack up from worst to best.
Cinecom Pictures
