Dr. Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, an a**ociate historical past professor at The New College, is accusing the staff behind a preferred Hulu restricted sequence of utilizing unique reporting from her Spotify podcast with out quotation or cost.

In an interview with The New York Instances revealed Friday, Petrzela defined that she believes that content material from her podcast, “Welcome to your Fantasy,” was used for Kumail Nanjiani’s “Welcome to Chippendales.”

Petrzela additional informed The Submit on Saturday that she is “troubled by the shut similarities” between the 2 initiatives.

“From story construction to sure characters and plot particulars to the just about an identical title, which understandably led many to consider, mistakenly, that I used to be concerned within the creation of the tv adaptation,” Petrzela emailed The Submit.

“I’m glad this case is being reported as a result of it raises essential questions on attribution and inventive ethics, particularly when reporting nonfiction.”

The Submit reached out to Spotify, Hulu, and Nanjiani’s reps for remark.

Petrzela’s 2021 podcast, which was co-produced by Gimlet Media and Pineapple Avenue Studios, informed the story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee, the late founding father of the all-male revue Chippendales.

The nine-episode sequence explored Banerjee’s rise and fall earlier than his 1994 suicide forward of sentencing for pleading responsible to arson, racketeering and murder-for-hire prices.

Banerjee had employed Nick De Noia to assist him handle the enterprise, however after a nasty deal, Banerjee grew to become indignant with De Noia and needed to have him killed.

“It was forbidden for dancers to take cash for intercourse however some did,” Petrzela informed The Submit in a 2021 interview about Chippendales. “I heard of fellows making $300 to $1,500 for encounters.”

Petrzela labored on the Spotify sequence with Dr. Nicole Hemmer, an a**ociate historical past professor at Vanderbilt College, and Dr. Neil J. Younger, one other historian.

Petrzela claimed to The New York Instances that earlier than the podcast was launched, a producer with Pineapple Avenue Studios emailed out the concept to Hollywood producers to see if there was any curiosity in adapting it.

An e mail was despatched to Nanjiani and his spouse and writing companion, Emily V. Gordon.

In a message shared with the outlet by Petrzela, the pair wrote again to say they weren’t .

“Kumail and I listened to the podcast and it’s such a enjoyable story, however sadly I don’t assume it’s the appropriate undertaking for us to put in writing,” Gordon wrote within the e mail, per The Instances.

“As a lot as we love watching crime tales, I don’t know if that’s a energy that we have now as a writing duo. It didn’t spark an instantaneous absorb our brains.”

Petrzela mentioned she moved on and signed a movie take care of Netflix alongside together with her collaborators and Pineapple Avenue Studios.

Her enthusiasm didn’t final lengthy, because it was later introduced that Hulu could be popping out with its personal miniseries referred to as “Welcome to Chippendales,” starring Nanjiani as Banerjee.

Nanjiani and Gordon additionally served as government producers.

Petrzela claims Netflix subsequently canceled her deal. The Submit reached out to Netflix for remark.

Reps for Nanjiani and Gordon informed The New York Instances in an announcement they weren’t “creatively concerned within the manufacturing,” and their participation “was restricted to casting session, communication with the studio/community, advertising and enhancing.”

The Hulu sequence, which premiered in November, credit a 2014 ebook referred to as “Lethal Dance: The Chippendales Murders,” by Okay. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca, as a piece it was “impressed by.”

However Petrzela and her colleagues declare the sequence consists of particulars that folks wouldn’t have identified except they listened to the “Welcome to Your Fantasy” podcast.

Eleanor Kagan, senior producer of the podcast, even created a spreadsheet allegedly highlighting over a dozen similarities between the Hulu present and the Spotify sequence.

One of many claims is that two of the characters closely featured within the Hulu present had been interviewed on the podcast and by no means talked about in “Lethal Dance.”

“You don’t personal historical past, and the traces of mental property might be actually blurry,” Hemmer mentioned to The Instances. “However it raised large questions on what we do as students and what occurs when that work turns into a part of the leisure area.”

Petrzela additionally mentioned she was “flabbergasted” by the state of affairs.

“However then once more, I come from a world of footnotes and supply citations,” she informed the outlet.