Pastor Sues Oprah Over ‘Greenleaf’

Style Magazine Newswire | 4/27/2018, 12:09 p.m.
Oprah Winfrey is being sued by a pastor and a screenwriter who claims the OWN series “Greenleaf” is a rip …
Greenleaf Actresses Merle Dandridge and Lynn Whitfield

Source: BlackAmericaWeb.com

Oprah Winfrey is being sued by a pastor and a screenwriter who claims the OWN series “Greenleaf” is a rip off of their idea. According to TheWrap, the suit, filed in federal court in California by Shannan Lynette Wynn and Pastor Lester Eugene Barrie, states the two teamed up to create a TV drama called “Justice & Glory,” and they met with Oprah’s team at OWN in the fall 2014 to pitch their idea … and got great feedback. According to the docs, OWN picked their brain for more ideas and versions of their pitch but eventually cut them off. Years later, they claim “Greenleaf” premiered and featured the exact same characters and storylines from their original pitch. The suit calls 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. Wynn and the pastor are asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.

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