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Showmax and DStv channel Honey have come under fire after two women have alleged that both entities stole their idea for the new reality TV show, Bae Beyond Borders, after they had pitched the show to both Showmax and Honey before the release of the trailer.
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This after the trailers of the show went viral when they were released earlier this week, showcasing four South African women who are looking for love with Nigerian men.
In a since-deleted TikTok video that went viral, Nombuso Thobejane claimed that she and her business partner Kwaile Lebopo had pitched the idea to Honey on 29 May this year under the name Loving Beyond Borders.
She further said that the show was subsequently rejected by Showmax and Honey, which told them [Thobejane and Lebopo] they would hold off until next year as they were not commissioning at that time and noted that they would be launching a dating format later this year.
Le reng ka taba e Showmax ?????? @ChrisExcel102 @AdvoBarryRoux pic.twitter.com/JXHluCtjNK
— Mahlatse (@Lady_liwinski) October 10, 2023
Honey channel head Izelle Venter had since denied the claims that the show was stolen and noted that the only similarity between Thobejane and Lebopo’s pitch was the very common saying “beyond borders”.
“What I can deduce about the situation is that the two parties involved are upset about the name beyond borders.
“We had pitched Bae Beyond Borders to Showmax in November 2022. When Kwaile [Lebopo] sent the pitch, we actually sent her a promo of the show, which at the time was called I Want a Naija Boy. Unfortunately, due to social media backlash, we were forced to change the name to Bae Beyond Borders,” Venter said.
Venter further stated that both Thobejane and Lebopo had claimed to have first pitched the show to XP Media, which is where they claimed Honey and Showmax had received the idea from.
Venter vehemently denied these claims, stating that XP Media is an independent media house, to which neither Showmax nor Honey would have access.
City Press was able to attain the proposal that Thobejane and Lebopo shared with Honey earlier this year.
The document read:
The premise of the show followed the format of the US TV show 90 Day Fiancé, which looks at transnational couples who are already in established relationships and trying to make it work with their significant others from different countries. However, Bae Beyond Borders focuses specifically on the budding romances between South African women and Nigerian men.
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POP24, the production team behind the Showmax reality series, released a statement to City Press, which read:
“The production team behind the Showmax reality series Bae Beyond Borders has become aware of creative plagiarism allegations made on TikTok by Ms Kwaile Lebopo. The TikTok in question has since been deleted.
“The Bae Beyond Borders show was inspired by an Afrikaans-language reality show Ram vir ’n Rus, which aired on VIA (DStv channel 147), a sister operation of POP24.
“Ms Lebopo also claims the similarity in the titles of both programmes is evidence of plagiarism. POP24 and Showmax’s position is that the phrase “beyond borders” is common usage and does not constitute plagiarism.”
Calls and messages made and sent to both Thobejane and Lebopo for comment on the matter drew a blank at the time of publishing.
