P-Valley Lawsuit: District Court, Ninth Circuit, Supreme Court

The P-Valley lawsuit ended on October 6, 2025, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Nicci Gilbert’s final appeal, closing out more than three years of litigation in which every court that reviewed the case ruled for Starz, Lionsgate, and series creator Katori Hall.¹ Gilbert, a former member of the R&B group Brownstone, had alleged that P-Valley was copied from her 2011 musical film Soul Kittens Cabaret. Judges at the district court, the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court all disagreed.

What Nicci Gilbert Claimed

Gilbert filed suit on January 12, 2022, in the Northern District of Georgia. The case was later transferred to the Central District of California as Gilbert-Daniels v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., No. 2:23-cv-02147.²

Her complaint listed a series of purported similarities between the two works: a strip or cabaret club owned by an LGBTQ individual who inherited it from a loved one, an antagonist trying to buy the land for a casino, a predominantly Black female cast of dancers, visual details like LED-lit stairs and beaded curtains, and a “sexy” tone with a lavender and purple palette.³

To show the defendants had access to her work, Gilbert alleged that in September 2014 she traveled to Los Angeles and, through entertainment attorney Leroy Bobbit, met with Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. She said she pitched the project as a scripted series and handed him two scripts and a DVD, and that Feltheimer praised a character called “Tata Burlesque” before going silent.⁴ She said she never heard from anyone at the company again.⁵

Why the District Court Dismissed the Case

On December 7, 2023, Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted summary judgment to the defendants, ruling that no reasonable jury could find substantial similarity between the two works.⁶

Applying the Ninth Circuit’s two-part test for copyright infringement, the court did not question Gilbert’s ownership of valid copyrights. The case turned on copying. Using a filtration analysis, Judge Wilson stripped away elements that copyright law does not protect. The general premise of a story set in a strip club staffed by Black dancers, the “sexy” mood, neon signage, the club’s physical layout, and themes about dancers navigating personal and societal pressures were all treated as scènes à faire, elements that flow naturally from the subject matter and cannot be owned by any one author.³ Standard dialogue phrases and stock character types, such as a veteran mentor-performer or a bouncer who falls for a dancer, were also deemed unprotectable. The court struck an expert report Gilbert submitted on substantial similarity and refused to allow further discovery on access.⁶

After the loss, Gilbert was ordered to pay $600,000 in the defendants’ legal fees.⁷

The Ninth Circuit Affirms

On December 16, 2024, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel unanimously affirmed in an unsigned memorandum opinion.⁸ The panel agreed the alleged similarities were “generic plot devices,” “familiar stock scenes,” and scènes à faire that come with any story about performers at a cabaret or exotic dancing venue. What remained after filtering, the panel wrote, were “random similarities scattered throughout the works.”

The court also pointed to fundamental differences in tone: P-Valley is “dark and violent,” while Soul Kittens Cabaret is “more lighthearted.” On Gilbert’s argument that both works share a plot about a club owner fending off a casino developer, the panel noted that this thread runs through P-Valley but is only “fleetingly mentioned” in Soul Kittens Cabaret. The panel added that Gilbert’s briefs sometimes mischaracterized the works or relied on materials not under copyright, and that her stricken expert report would not have changed the outcome even if considered.⁵

The Supreme Court Ends the Case

Gilbert petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, docketed as No. 24-1251 on June 6, 2025. Both Lionsgate and Katori Hall waived their right to respond, and no amicus briefs were filed. The Court denied review without comment on October 6, 2025.¹⁹

What Both Sides Said After the Ruling

Katori Hall broke a long public silence in a statement posted to Instagram, calling the litigation a “long and arduous ordeal” that “tested my reputation and my patience.” She said she had never read, seen, or been given Soul Kittens Cabaret, and that P-Valley grew out of her play Pussy Valley, which she began drafting in 2009.¹⁰ Hall said the lawsuit forced her to hand over more than 16,000 pages of creative material, including drafts, pitches, and an early pilot, which she described as proof of independent creation. She called that disclosure “a violation,” said her “silence has become a liability in an echo chamber of lies,” wished “the plaintiff peace,” and captioned the post “Case closed.”¹¹

Gilbert responded on Instagram that “Winning in the court of law is important but winning in the court of public opinion is purpose,” and told followers on Instagram Live, “I refuse to say I lost this case. I am going to move on from it.” She said she plans to release a book titled Nicci vs. Goliath: The Cost of Justice, along with new music and a documentary in 2026.⁹

1
Supreme Court of the United States. Gilbert-Daniels v. Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc., No. 24-1251
2
CourtListener. Nicole Gilbert-Daniels v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation
3
Loeb & Loeb LLP. Gilbert-Daniels v. Lionsgate Entertainment Corp
4
Madame Noire. Nicci Gilbert P-Valley Lawsuit
5
Metropolitan News-Enterprise. Copyright Infringement Case, Gilbert-Daniels v. Lions Gate
6
Shapiro Arato LLP. Minutes of Order and Judgment Granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment
7
Ice Cream Convos. Nicci Gilbert P-Valley Supreme Court Ruling, Katori Hall Response
8
Courthouse News Service. Ninth Circuit Rebuffs Copyright Appeal Over Strip Club TV Show
9
Yahoo Entertainment. Supreme Court Sides With Katori Hall
10
Yahoo Entertainment. Case Closed: P-Valley Creator Katori Hall Breaks Silence
11
Vibe. Katori Hall P-Valley Copyright Lawsuit, Nicci Gilbert Reacts