Producer/director Salim Akil is officially firing back at a domestic violence lawsuit filed by his alleged mistress, which ultimately resulted in the cancellation of his critically acclaimed creation, “Love Is.”
Back in October, Amber Brenner, who claimed to have a decade-long relationship with the married man, filed a lawsuit against her ex-lover, his wife, Mara Brock Akil, and Oprah’s OWN Network over their show, “Love Is.”
Although the show, which premiered in 2018, was created by the Akils – based on their real-life relationship – Brenner said she wrote and sent a similar screenplay to Salim in 2016, which she believes was later used to create the OWN Network hit.
As a result, Brenner filed a suit against the three parties, demanding an injunction against them for profiting off her work. One month later, Brenner filed a separate suit against Salim, accusing him of domestic violence and breach of contract, in addition to the allegations from the previous complaint. The suit sparked an investigation and ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the OWN show, but now, Salim is firing back at the allegations.
In new court documents obtained by The Blast, Salim says the statute of limitations on Amber Brenner’s allegations are up. In addition to that, Akil says Brenner’s claims are far from credible due to her own “negligent, intentional or bad faith conduct.”
He also denied the allegations via his lawyer, calling them “totally untrue.”
“We will defend Salim to the fullest against the false and offensive claims that a woman with whom he had a past relationship has included in multiple unsubstantiated lawsuits,” the lawyer said in a statement. “Salim looks forward to clearing his name and to being able to focus on his work and his family.”
Salim is demanding the entire case be thrown out.