- Netflix has dropped its lawsuit against the makers of "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical."
- Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear were sued after debuting their play at the Kennedy Center in July.
Netflix has abandoned a lawsuit against the makers of a Grammy-winning unofficial musical based on its hit drama "Bridgerton", reports say.
The streaming giant brought a lawsuit against the creators of "The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical", Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, in July after the pair debuted their show at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Netflix praised an initial spinoff of the show by Barlow in January 2021, when a version of the eventual play was released on TikTok. But it went on to huge success, winning a Grammy for best musical theater album in April.
According to court filings shared with Insider and Deadline, Netflix said it had offered to negotiate a licence with Barlow and Bear, including before the July Kennedy Center performance, but the pair repeatedly declined.
The pair sold tickets costing as much as $149 for the Kennedy Center performance, while also selling memorabilia bearing official "Bridgerton" trademarks, the lawsuit said. Netflix said Barlow and Bear's actions "stretches 'fan fiction' well past its breaking point."
Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of Bridgerton, told Insider that "what started as a fun celebration" on social media has turned into "the blatant taking of intellectual property solely for Barlow & Bear's financial benefit."
The author of the "Bridgerton" books, Julia Quinn, said there was a difference "between composing on TikTok and recording and performing for commercial gain."
However, Netflix has now dropped its complaint, Deadline and Variety first reported, with a court filing shared with Deadline showing the streamer was dismissing the action.
No reason has been given for the decision, though Barlow and Bear appear to have altered their plans.
They had been due to perform the musical at London's Royal Albert Hall on September 20, but called it off shortly after the lawsuit was brought against them.
Netflix, and Barlow and Bear, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.