Katori Hall, the “muva” of Starz’s hit show “P-Valley,” is finally breaking her silence regarding the ongoing lawsuit involving the show. Yesterday, Hall went to Instagram to share that:
“On October 6, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Nicci Gilbert, who claimed my television series P-Valley infringed on her copyrighted work,” she wrote.
This legal saga dates back to 2022, when Gilbert, a member of the R&B girl group Brownstone, filed a lawsuit against Lionsgate, Starz, and Hall, claiming that the popular stripper show infringed on her copyrighted work from her past production “Soul Kittens Cabaret.” As Hall explains in her statement, in December 2023, U.S. District courts ruled that “P-Valley” is not substantially similar to that work.
Which, Hall says, is “for good reason” because she has “never read, seen, or been given Soul Kittens Cabaret.”
In 2024, a Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges reportedly declined Gilbert’s appeal of the prior judgment, ruling that no reasonable juror could find any substantial similarities between “Soul Kittens Cabaret” and “P-Valley.” In her post, Hall explains that the popular Starz show is inspired by her play “Pussy Valley.”
“During my deposition, I found an early draft of the play in a 2009 email. I marveled at how much of the dialogue from those first pages remained in the P-Valley pilot; how Uncle Clifford, Miss Mississippi, Mercedes, and Autumn all jumped off the page,” she explained. “It was a much-needed reminder of how far I’d traveled and validation that hard work truly does pay off. Through sheer grit, the characters that I had begun birthing in 2009 finally reached everyone’s screens on July 12, 2020.”
Throughout the lawsuit, Hall says she disclosed that draft along with over 16,000 pages, various drafts of the play, television pitches and treatments, and even an early pilot of P-Valley as proof of her independent creation.
She continued: “As an artist, exposing my creative process so vulnerably felt like a violation. Despite this discomfort, I gave the plaintiff the access she craved to no avail. This generosity was met with online attacks and lies, all part of the plaintiff’s smear campaign to defame my character.”
Following the most recent appeal, Gilbert posted a video on Instagram reflecting on the years-long legal battle. Though she admits she lost in the court of law, she believes she won “intergrity” in the court of public opinion.
“I will never accept that I ‘lost’ a case that was never allowed to go before a jury after five years of litigation,” she wrote in the caption of the Instagram post. “What I will accept is that I cannot fix a broken system alone, nor convince those with more power and privilege to stand beside me against billion-dollar bullies. The reality is simple: when 99% of plaintiffs lose against Hollywood, it’s not because all of them were wrong—it’s because the system is. Until that changes, I’ll continue to fight for reform, fairness, and the right of every creator to be heard.”
In May 2025, Gilbert was ordered to pay the studio $170K in legal fees. At the time, the Brownstone singer took to social media to share her reactions to the news.
Ultimately, Hall concluded this chapter by saying, “I stayed silent for years, but my silence has become a liability in an echo chamber of lies. I’m speaking now. Not with bitterness, but with my deepest truth. P-Valley is my original work. While this long and arduous ordeal has tested my reputation and my patience, I wish the plaintiff peace. I am so thankful the truth has prevailed, allowing me to finally close this difficult chapter.”
And now that this over, fans can only hope this expedites the release of the long-awaited third season of “P-Valley.”
