On the heels of the outrage surrounding Balenciaga’s holiday campaign, Nicci Gilbert has taken to social media to blast “P-Valley” for exploiting children in the opening credits of the show.
In January 2022, the Brownstone singer and television producer filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming the hit Starz series is an unauthorized knock-off of her original musical stage play “Soul Kittens Cabaret,” which was released on DVD in 2011.
The suit, filed in the United States District Court on January 12, 2022, lists Lionsgate, Chernin Entertainment, Starz, creator Katori Hall, executive producer Liz Garcia, and co-producer Patrik-Ian-Polk as defendants.
Nicci Gilbert’s suit states “P-Valley” and her copyrighted stage play are “striking and substantially similar.”
She alleges the show stole the noir look, unique ploy synopsis, set design, risqué performance venue, and unique characters from “Soul Kittens Cabaret.”
According to Starz, the hit series is based on Katori Hall’s stage play “P***y Valley.”
When the show received a Season 2 renewal, Nicci said it felt like “punched in the face over & over.”
But, that doesn’t stop her from publicly slamming the series every chance she gets.
This time, she’s calling for outrage over Black children being exploited for profit in the opening credits of a show about sex work.
Nicci tweeted:
Everyone is outraged about #Balenciaga but #PVALLEY has children in the opening of a show about sex work & an adults voices tuned up to sound like a small child… Black Children deserve protection too.
It’s utterly disgusting that our children’s images & innocence is being exploited for profit.
A child’s likeness should not be used to promote a show about sex work. That was a terrible irresponsible decision #KatoriHall #Pvalley #PValleyStarz
No matter what happens with my Copyright Infringement case against #pvalley #PvalleyStarz #KatoriHall The images of the children in the opening & voice tuned up to sound like a child should be changed. It’s no different than #Balenciaga sex work & children don’t go together.
How is this opening of #Pvalley #PValleyStarz any different than #Balenciaga Children should NEVER be used in anything connected to SEX WORK!
Nicci Gilbert also took to Instagram writing:
The algorithms ain’t gone like this one.
The only difference between the #balenciaga situation & #pvalley is that the children used to promote adult sexual content are BLACK.
And before one of you low vibrational plate eaters comes on my page talkin bout me hating because of my case…
Check my track record I stood up for children & sexual exploitation LONG before I sued them for copyright infringement & will continue to long after I WIN this case! #Fight4WIRF #ChangeTheOpeningMane
I’m going to sit my low vibrational plate to the side and ask a couple of questions:
- As someone who has advocated for sexually abused and exploited people, why is Nicci Gilbert just now bringing attention to this “issue” after two seasons of the show?
- Is it because the alleged exploitation of children took a backseat to her copyright infringement lawsuit against “P-Valley?”
To be clear, Nicci is not alone in her position, others agree with her that children should not be anywhere in, near, or around anything dealing with “P-Valley.”
Others would argue that the two children seen in the opening credits, one looking through a fence, and another standing on a mattress in a yard, were only used in a moving landscape shot of Mississippi.
The children are nowhere in, near, or around the strip club or sex workers.
Watch the opening credits for “P-Valley” below.
Do you agree with Nicci Gilbert that children are being exploited or is this another angle for her to attack the show she is accusing of stealing her intellectual property?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or join the convo on our socials. (Facebook, Instagram)
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