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- e.tv has responded to speculation surrounding its new weeknight drama, Smoke & Mirrors, after reality TV star and producer Tebogo Ramokgadi claimed it is his brainchild.
- The broadcaster admitted receiving a proposal from Ramokgadi but said it did not accept the show and concept.
- Smoke & Mirrors, which premiered on 17 April, centres on the character Thandiswa, who is on a mission to rid the town of Emnyameni of a group of morally corrupt men.
e.tv has denied allegations that its new late-night prime-time show, Smoke & Mirrors, is a stolen idea after reality TV star and producer Tebogo Ramokgadi claimed it was his brainchild.
Smoke & Mirrors premiered on the channel last Monday, 17 April.
However, eMedia denied the allegations and said:
Smoke & Mirrors is set in the landscape of a small mining town called Emnyameni and introduces the character of Thandiswa – a hairdresser by day and an escort by night. She is on a mission to rid the town of 'The Unholy Trinity' – a group of morally corrupt men who run Emnyameni – to avenge her sister's untimely and suspicious death.
"The title, Smoke & Mirrors, is not a unique name and is a general phrase used in everyday language and by many other producers for albums and song titles and also across many industries," the broadcaster continued in a press statement. "Any alleged similarity to this or many other dramas is purely coincidental."
According to Zimoja, Ramokgadi said the show was his idea, which he had in 2019. Per the report, he spent R1 million on the pilot because "we wanted it to be ready and perfect".
"This hurts me so much to think that I trusted people," he told the publication. "I'm looking into suing them. They are undermining me and think I'm stupid. This depresses me. I'm being bullied here. Like, they took the name even; why?"
Ramokgadi's project manager for the show, Owen Ndlovu, said: "That is without a shadow of a doubt Tebogo's show". Ndlovu, who was meant to sell the show to different channels, said he did not approach anyone from e.tv but the SABC instead.
"It happens that you might be working somewhere and have friends on other channels who you share scripts with," he told the publication. "This might be the case; I don't know."
