After it was announced Wednesday that OWN has canceled its show “Love Is…” the woman behind the husband-and-wife team who created the series is speaking out.
Mara Brock Akil took to Instagram Dec. 20 to express sorrow over the network’s choice not to move forward with a second season of the show. The decision comes amid accusations of sexual Abuse and copyright infringement against her husband, Salim Akil.
SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 21: Mara Brock Akil (L) and Salim Akil from CW’s ‘Black Lightning’ pose for a portrait at the Getty Images Portrait Studio powered by Pizza Hut at San Diego 2018 Comic Con at Andaz San Diego on July 21, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Smallz & Raskind/Getty Images for Pizza Hut)
“LOVE IS___ I am saddened that this great group of #artists and #storytellers will no longer get to create together on this project in this way,” she wrote. “This was a special tribe — assembling teams like this is by the grace of God — and I will miss not being on set with them to make more magic.
“And though I know we will all go on to create more amazing work, I’m grateful there was a moment in time that we came together and had the courage to give our best to try and tell a story about love with love. #InTheLandOf #LoveIs,” she concluded.
Following actress Amber Dixon Brenner’s lawsuit that Salim sexually abused her during an extramarital affair, Warner Bros. Television led a probe and did not find any allegations of misconduct on the OWN series or CW’s “Black Lightning,” on which Salim serves as executive producer, sources told Variety.
While production on “Black Lightning” has been continuous and Salim remains on board as showrunner, sources said OWN felt the allegations against him led to a unique challenge for the future of “Love Is…” as a second season had already begun pre-production. The narrative of the show, which is based on the love story of the Akils, was seen as being compromised.
In November, Brenner accused Salim, with whom she says she had a 10-year affair, of getting slapped and being forced to perform sexual acts on Salim during that time. She also filed a copyright suit against him for the concept of “Love Is…”
Salim denied the claims in a statement through his attorney saying, the “allegations are deeply upsetting — but they are also totally untrue.”
Salim has not spoken out about the cancelation of the series.
