*”Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris has been hit with a more than $1M lawsuit by music video director and “Idlewild” helmer Bryan Barber, who claims Kenya ripped off the idea for the hit ABC comedy, Deadline.com reports. Barber believes Kenya is in breach of contract and accuses him committing fraud in his jury-seeking complaint (read it here), which he filed in L.A. Superior Court on Friday.
The filing cites a number of similarities between the initial concept and Black-ish. “Both works conclude with the protagonist overcoming challenges with race relations, adapting to his professional environment, and coming to terms with his ‘blackish-ness,’” asserts the complaint
“Plaintiff is informed and believes that at some point between the end of 2006 and September 2014, Defendant Barris – using Plaintiff’s idea for the Original Untitled Script – wrote, developed and shopped the pilot episode for Black-ish without Plaintiff’s knowledge or authorization,” alleges Barber. “Indeed, Defendant Barris intentionally concealed these facts from Plaintiff. The pilot episode for Black-ish was predicated in all material respects on Plaintiff’s idea and/or the Original Untitled Script.”
READ RELATED STORY: Anthony Anderson, Kenya Barris Talk ‘N-Word’ and Artist Responsibility [EXCLUSIVE]
Bryan claims that he and his fellow Clark Atlanta University alum co-wrote a script based on his life for VH-1 nearly ten years ago. But Kenya essential hijacked the story and retooled it into the the series starring Anthony Anderson, and Barber is ready to lay out a timeline in court that suggests he and Barris were connected at one point.
“The Original Untitled Script was premised on Plaintiff’s idea for a television show about the black experience as seen through the lens of a successful, creative and affluent black man working in the predominantly white entertainment industry,” says the 18-page complaint naming Barris, Black-ish EP Larry Wilmore’s Wilmore Films, Principato-Young Entertainment and Cinema Gypsy Productions as defendants.
Barber is requesting monetary damages as well as a full accounting, creator and writer credit and compensation on the Emmy nominated Black-ish plus a piece of “all derivative, ancillary and merchandising rights and interests.”
