OWN Network, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil Sued For Allegedly Ripping Off “Love Is”

Back in June, “Love Is,” created and produced by Mara Brock Akil and her husband, Salim, premiered on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network. The show follows a power couple, who share their love story and how they balance successful careers in Hollywood and a family over three decades and is based on the real-life relationship of The Akils. 

But now, just months after the show premiered and was subsequently renewed for a second season, its home network has been hit with a lawsuit over the show’s premise. 

In new documents obtained by The Blast, actress Amber Brenner is accusing OWN, as well as the screenwriting and producing couple, of stealing her work and passing it off as their own. 

Brenner says she wrote a fictional script titled, “Luv & Perversity in the East Village,” which was “about loving a person who is detrimental to her own life and takes the readers on a journey that explores love in the context of such an abusive relationship.” 

According to Brenner, the screenplay features a young, black female lead, who works in the entertainment business, and falls in love with an aggressive man, who shakes up her life. She says she gave Salim a copy of her script in 2016, and he told her he enjoyed it. ⠀

However, instead of partnering with Brenner for the project, she says the production duo used the idea and turned it into their own show that ended up on OWN as “Love Is.” 

Now, as a result, Brenner is suing all parties involved, demanding an injunction against them from continuing to profit off of the work. She is also asking for unspecified damages.