Johannesburg – CEO of The BarLeader Group, Legend Manqele has released a statement, lifting the veil of secrecy surrounding the legal proceedings instituted on behalf of Hastings Moeng, who is seeking “reasonable compensation” for the concept of the show, ‘Dinner at Somizi’s’.
Somizi Mhlongo, Barleader TV and Multichoice have had summons served on them.
Manqele’s statement reads as follows:
I was hoping that this situation would be resolved amicably by all involved and that I would not have to issue this statement. However, in light of the fact that the private and legal interventions that were aimed at putting an end to the matter have failed to yield any fruit, it has become necessary to publicly clarify my position in this matter so as to avoid a situation where my silence is misconstrued as an admission of wrongdoing on my part or an acceptance of the facts which are currently in the public domain. I hope that making public the actual truth as it relates to how “Dinner at Somizi’s” came to be will finally put an end to this issue.
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The original concept of the cooking show was created during the level 5 and 4 lockdown as a virtual cooking show hosted by Somizi and his husband, Mohale; the show was named “Straight Out Of The Kitchen”. With comedy and music shows going virtual, there was a clear need for this kind of show. The show would see the newlyweds host normal South Africans in their kitchen via Zoom or Skype whilst cooking and chatting. The guests would also be required to cook. Somizi had initially intended to launch a cooking show on his YouTube channel, I approached him and suggested that he consider the TV route instead as his customer base was already sitting with the channel. While Multichoice was initially onboard with the idea of a virtual cooking show they suggested a few changes to the format and they also suggested that we change the name of the show from “Straight Out Of The Kitchen” to Dinner At Somizi’s. After shooting three episodes of the cooking show, Multichoice requested that more changes be made to the format. A collection of emails exist which set out these chain of events. The documentary evidence that we have is quite clear. Simply, the idea for the show did not originate from Mr Hastings nor was there any theft or plagiarism of Mr Hastings’s idea. All allegations in this regard are patently false and are without merit. The fact that what was ultimately presented on television screens is similar to an idea that Mr Hastings had eight years ago is nothing more than a coincidence.
It is correct that Mr Hastings approached me at the gym approximately eight years ago, in the early stages of my business and told me about an idea that he had for a cooking show. I gave him my email address and asked that he email me. I do not recall ever receiving the email that Mr Hastings sent to me 8 years ago. In fact, the evidence clearly shows that I never even opened the email from Mr Hastings. The email was delivered to my mailbox and formed part of the hundreds of unopened emails in my mailbox. I also point out that, at the time, it was not out of the ordinary for me to engage with Mr Hastings at the gym and to give him my email address as I was still relatively young in the industry and was still quite shy about drawing boundaries where the distribution of my personal information was concerned.
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Multichoice and I previously met with Mr Hastings in the attempt to resolve the matter and to try to present evidence to prove that the show was not a stolen concept. Judging by recent developments, our attempts to address this matter privately with Mr Hastings have obviously been unsuccessful.
My passion for this industry is spiritual for me, a calling which I am most grateful for. This is an industry that took me in as a teenager with dreams. Having been part of quite prominent production houses has afforded me with a great sense of appreciation for talent, local productions and the brave channels that believe in our visions. And alongside my appreciation for talent lies an even deeper desire to afford young and dynamic minds with support and unlocking opportunities for us all – particularly during such challenging times, where I have also been deeply affected.
My intent to grow and expand the industry with zestful minds will never alter as it speaks a lot to the earnest nature of what I believe is my purpose. This is why we had hoped to find a way to resolve this matter.
It is believed that Moeng wants the court to declare his verbal contract as valid and binding (supported by email evidence that it exists) and wants the court to declare the concept underpinning Somizi’s show as Moeng’s brainchild as well as wanting the court to direct “reasonable compensation” to be given to Moeng as well as rights to contract future seasons.
Read more: Somizi served with summons for allegedly stealing TV show concept
Last year, Somizi said that no one owns the rights to his name.
In September, Somizi said that Hastings approached him verbally in 2013 about a cooking show, but he declined at the time.
He further said that it was only later, when he fell in love with cooking, that he thought about starting his own YouTube channel, and again when Nkululeko “Legend” Manqele approached him about the show.
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