Author: I Saw Mrs. Maisel, Knew I'd Been Ripped Off

Jodi Parmley sues, says Amazon Studios must've lifted ideas from screenplay based on her book
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 7, 2020 9:09 AM CDT
Author: I Saw Mrs. Maisel , Knew I'd Been Ripped Off
Rachel Brosnahan in a scene from "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."   (Nicole Rivelli/Amazon Studios via AP)

It's clear that Amazon Studios has a hit on their hands with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, starring Rachel Brosnahan as title character Midge Maisel, along with Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, and other colorful cast members. Jodi Parmley especially recognizes that fact—and she wants a piece of it, because she says it was her idea. TMZ reports that Parmley just filed a suit against the TV producer and distributor, claiming key sections of the plot, character traits, and even Mrs. Maisel's comedy routine were lifted from her 2014 book, FIFI: Financial Infidelity F--- It: The Mistress of the New Millennium. Per complaint documents seen by TMZ, Parmley claims after she wrote the book, she turned it into a screenplay and started showing it to different studios. Although she doesn't name any specific Amazon execs she met with, the implication is they got wind of her idea and ripped it off.

Now Parmley, after saying she recognized her own work in the show's debut, wants some of the profits from Maisel, which has won a slew of awards, including 2018 Emmys for Broshanan, Borstein, director Amy Sherman-Palladino, and the show overall. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has been a worldwide phenomenon," Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement late last year announcing the next season, per Variety. "We're so happy that our Prime Video customers will get to see Midge's story continue in Season 4." Although there's no official word when that season will debut, Decider notes new seasons of the show typically release in late November or December, suggesting we'll see Midge and the gang around the holidays—though with the coronavirus pandemic, it's not clear how production has been affected. (More Amazon.com stories.)

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