Lena Waithe has been accused of stealing the idea for her new series, Girls Room, following the release of the show’s trailer. On Wednesday, Waithe took to twitter to respond, maintaining that she didn’t take the storyline from Atlanta screenwriter Nina Lee. “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,” Waithe wrote.
“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,” she added.
Following the trailer premiered last Friday, Nina Lee called attention to the similarities between Waithe’s work and her own and acknowledged that the storyline was the same. Lee’s project, also titled The Girls Room, 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,” she tweeted.
Dove, which has partnered with Waithe on the show, issued a statement to TheGrio, saying: “Dove started working on Girls Room with our partners in early 2017, and we’re proud to have teamed up with ATTN: and Lena Waithe to bring the vision to life. The name of the series was developed before Lena or ATTN: were added to the project and was selected because our scenes mainly take place in the 'Girls Room,' any similarity to other creative projects is entirely unintentional.”
Check out the trailer (below).