Get the latest gossip

M. Night Shyamalan Cleared in $81 Million ‘Servant’ Lawsuit Trial

M. Night Shyamalan was cleared of copyright infringement in the $81 million lawsuit over the Apple TV+ series 'Servant.'

In 2020, Italian director Francesca Gregorini sued Shyamalan and the streaming service for copyright infringement, alleging that Servant, which ran for four seasons on Apple TV+, stole elements from her 2013 movie The Truth About Emanuel. The jury — after watching both the three episodes of the supernatural Servant and entirety of the coming-of-age drama The Truth About Emanuel — deliberated Friday and ultimately found Shyamalan and Apple TV+ were not liable in the lawsuit, ruling in favor of the filmmaker and putting an end to the five-year legal ordeal. As Variety notes, a federal judge previously threw out the lawsuit, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived it in 2022, finding the two works — both involving a woman tasked with caring for a doll that’s an emotional substitute for a dead child — were “substantially similar.” After Apple’s motion for summary judgment was denied in November, the case was ordered to start trial this week.

Get the Android app