Lena Waithe has responded to allegations regarding her stealing the idea for her new series, Girls Room.
What We Know:
- On Wednesday, Waithe denied stealing her concept from Atlanta screenwriter, Nina Lee via Twitter. She insisted that she has never seen Lee’s work and would never steal from another artist. “I was brought on to write the scripts and produce the content. I have never seen Nina Lee’s work nor would I ever steal another artist’s work.”
- “As a creative myself, I can only imagine how she must be feeling and I look to #Dove to give us more clarity on the situation.”
- This controversy began when Waithe’s new series Girls Room trailer aired.
- Although Lee acknowledges some of the differences in her and Waithe’s projects, Lee claims that the main story-lines were the same. Lee took to Twitter to discuss her similar project, also titled Girls Room, which she stated was created in 2017.
- “I made a lot of mistakes when it came to this show. Mistakes I can still feel. And I wish I knew then what I know now. We were young and didn’t know what we had on our hands. But thanks everyone involved! I’ve written 4 shows since then so if you’re an investor holla at me,” tweeted Lee who goes by the Twitter name Nina Serafina.
- Waithe’s Girls Room includes a group of diverse high-school girls whom are named after the Little Rock Nine: Minnie, Melba, Thelma, Gloria, and Carlotta. The girls met in the bathroom at a club, and they tackle many issues like bullying and social media’s impact on body image.
- Lee wrote her Girls Room when she was a student at Spelman College, where she studied screenwriting. Her show featured college-aged black girls.
- Lee had her former friend produce her show at graduate school. She set up photoshoots, an Instagram account, and a teaser video, which she claims went viral. Lee said her friend got her to sign paperwork so that she could use the show, claiming that she had to show her professor that she received permission.
- “It became this huge thing and everything that could go wrong with this really went wrong,” Lee told Okayplayer in an interview. “(After companies) began reaching out to us, she comes to me and says ‘I want you off the project,’” Lee said.
- Lee told Okayplayer that she unknowingly signed a contract, giving her former friend rights to her work. Lee hired an attorney, but there were still copyright issues.
Lee stated that even though she feels she may have been wronged, she is more passionate about other projects that she has created and hopes to find investors for those projects.
