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Lena Waithe accused of stealing ‘Girls Room’ from Atlanta screenwriter

After a trailer for Lena Waithe’s new series, Girls Room, aired last Friday, one screenwriter is pointing out the similarities between Waithe’s show and one of her own.

Although Nina Lee, from Atlanta, acknowledges some differences in her project and Waithes,’ Lee said the main storyline is the same. Lee took to Twitter to discuss her similar project, also entitled Girls Room, which she says she created in 2017, reported Okay Player.

“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.

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Waithe’s Girls Room features a diverse group of high-school girls whom she named after members of the Little Rock Nine: Melba, Minnie, Thelma, Gloria, and Carlotta. The girls meet in the restroom while at a club and ultimately become friends who tackle many issues – from bullying to social media’s impact on their body image.

Lee says she wrote her Girls Room while a student at Spelman College, where she studied screenwriting. Her show featured college-aged Black girls. Lee told Okay Player that she allowed a former friend to produce her show for a graduate school class and the friend set up photoshoots, an Instagram account, and a teaser video which she claims went viral when released online. Lee said the friend had her sign paperwork so that she could use the show, claiming she had to show her professor that she had received permission.

“It became this huge thing and everything that could go wrong with this really went wrong,” Lee told Okay Player 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 Okay Player that unbeknownst to her what she actually signed was a contract, giving her former friend rights to her work. Lee hired an attorney. However, copyright issues were not resolved. As her friend proceeded to film the work, Lee added that the laptop belonging to the show’s director of photography was stolen and the crew lost their show footage.

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Lee said she decided to move on from the project. That was until she saw Friday’s trailer by Waithe and was shocked at the similarities between the two projects.

“Even the way her show is colored is oddly similar, I have to laugh. Ours was fun as hell though cuz it was about the great drunk girls you meet (in) the girls restroom. And it extended out to their lives and how tough and rewarding navigating through life in your 20s can be,” added Lee in a Twitter post.

Lee said 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.

Waithe has yet to respond to the allegations against her.

The post Lena Waithe accused of stealing ‘Girls Room’ from Atlanta screenwriter appeared first on TheGrio.



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