A New York federal judge won’t reconsider a hedge fund performance coach’s claims that Showtime’s Billions features a character based on her and that the network failed to compensate her for her role in its creation.
Denise Shull in January 2019 sued the Showtime, along with series creators and network execs, claiming the character of Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) stems from her book Market Mind Games and she helped series co-creator Andrew Ross Sorkin develop the character but was never compensated.
U.S. District Judge George Daniels in October dismissed the complaint, finding that the women weren’t substantially similar and neither is the nature of the works. Shull asked Daniels to reconsider his decision and allow her to file an amended complaint, arguing he relied heavily on the defendants’ version of events instead of accepting as true the facts Shull alleged (as is required in considering a motion to dismiss.)
Daniels on Wednesday denied the motion.
“Plaintiffs do not offer any specific information that this Court apparently overlooked that would cause this Court to reach an alternative conclusion,” he writes in the order, which is posted below. “Instead, Plaintiffs simply reassert the same or similar arguments they previously made, and this Court previously rejected, despite the Court’s thorough review at the motion to dismiss phase.”
Shull’s lawyer Avi Turkel on Thursday sent The Hollywood Reporter a statement in response to the decision: “We are disappointed with the dismissal, but believe in the judicial system and Ms. Shull is inclined to continue to pursue her rights to exclusive ownership of her persona and original content and to seek adjudication of all her claims on their merits.”
