Bad Moms producer Suzanne Todd is accused of lifting ideas from writers Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth in a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Nobile and Ashworth, according to Deadline, are suing the producer of the film series, which also includes A Bad Moms Christmas and Bad Dads.
The duo claim Todd ripped off concepts they wrote about in their books I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids and I’d Trade My Husband For A Housekeeper, as well as from meetings with them.
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Headed to court: Bad Moms producer Suzanne Todd, 53, is accused of lifting ideas for the film series from writers Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth in a new lawsuit filed in LA Superior Court
The pair are asking for profits from the film series as well as additional damages, according to the site.
Nobile and Ashworth said in court docs that they’d worked with Todd, 53, for a three-year period beginning in 2008, and had meetings in which they collaborated creatively, with the end goal being a movie or TV series.
Nobile and Ashworth told the court Todd’s use of their material – in the form of ‘plots, scenes and various ideas’ was ‘indisputable,’ noting the themes of ‘competitiveness and high standards between mothers’ and ‘the overall message that mothers need to be less overworked and learn to make mistakes.’
Todd said in an Entertainment Weekly interview last year that the basis for the Bad Moms films was her ‘experience and a lot of other people’s experience.’
Stating their case: Ashworth (L) and Nobile (R) claim Todd ripped off concepts they wrote about in their books and in meetings
Glitzy: The veteran producer Todd was snapped at the Bad Moms premiere in 2016
Nobile and Ashworth told the court they were stunned to see that many of the ideas they had talked about had wound up in the hit 2016 comedy, which starred Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn, and wound up taking in $183 million internationally, with $113 million in the states.
In their filing, Nobile and Ashworth said they were on the short side of opportunity cost in the deal, as they had ‘passed up several film/television opportunities to collaborate with’ Todd, who has produced past films such as the Austin Powers series, 2010’s Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp, and the Demi Moore military movie G.I. Jane.
Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the masterminds behind The Hangover series, were listed as the writers on the film.
A toast: Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Kathryn Hahn starred in the smash hit comedy in 2016