A Los Angeles-based government producer and author is looking out HBO Max for allegedly stealing a comedy collection they initially shut down, however ended up giving to Keke Palmer.
On Wednesday, HBO Max introduced the brand new comedy collection, Unfriendly Black Hotties, which they’re growing with Keke Palmer, Jermaine Crawford, and Amy Aniobi, ,” Selection reported.
In line with the present’s logline, the collection will function a “comedic satire exploring Gen-Z’s weaponization of political correctness instructed via the eyes of 4 highschool women.”
Palmer, Crawford, and Aniobi will function co-writers and government producers on the co-produced collection between HBO Max and Leisure One. Crawford was excited to share the announcement on Instagram and shout out the crew behind the brand new collection.
“Y’all are in for one helluva trip 😂 – Cheers crew 🥂: @keke @amyaniobi @noraradd @aanch / @eone_tv and @hbomax 💙,” he captiopned his publish.
Nonetheless, shortly after the present was introduced, government producer and author Shay Caldwell took to Instagram to accuse the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned firm of stealing the collection she pitched to them just a few years in the past.
“Sadly, at this time, I really feel defeated listening to the information {that a} mission my writing accomplice @heycassady and I’ve shopped round Hollywood for the final 2 years has been picked up by HBO Max with a crew comprised of individuals from my private pitch deck,” Caldwell shared in her prolonged caption.
She went on to spotlight how HBO execs allegedly turned down the present they claimed had a title that “stood no probability” in at this time’s local weather. Solely to announce the present with the identical title and an all-new crew of producers.
“It strikes me as odd that the very mission execs believed stood no probability with its title within the local weather we reside in would go on to discover a life with the precise title and really comparable content material matter,” Caldwell wrote.
Caldwell’s publish included a collection of receipts that appeared to substantiate her accusations in opposition to HBO. Images confirmed Caldwell’s unique title and brand for Unfriendly Black Hotties, a screenshot of the unique script created by Caldwell and Cassidy Dill, together with a temper board, stills from the pilot, and screenshots of copyright emails.
Caldwell additionally included her full assertion that instructed the “story of a younger Black expertise being swindled for his or her concepts within the shuffle of the Hollywood hustle in a single as outdated as time.”
Caldwell closed her caption by expressing her need to “rectify” the difficulty with HBO and in addition calling out Palmer, Crawford, and Aniobi, for turning into part of her “defeat.”
“I’m in hopes an amicable reprieve is feasible as a result of it’s disheartening to see folks you admire change into part of your feeling of defeat,” she wrote.
Caldwell’s feedback part has been flooded with supportive messages from different Black creators who shared the identical experiences in an unlucky observe recognized to plague the leisure trade.
“Bless you. It’s occurred to me a pair instances,” one individual wrote.
“We nonetheless stealing in 2023!” added another person.
No phrase but from HBO Max or the present’s present crew of writers and government producers.
