‘Billions’ Producers And Showtime Face Defamation Suit Ahead Of Season 5

People have always been fascinated with money. Thus, it came as no surprise that Showtime’s financial drama series “Billions” got the green light for Season 5 this early after the huge success of its recently aired fourth season.

The show has a lot of real-life inferences, which makes the plot even more interesting. But one episode’s storyline might have veered too close to reality for comfort, and now Showtime and the producers of “Billions” are now facing a defamation suit filed by Cayuga Nation and tribal leader Clint Halftown.

Cayuga Nation named the shows’ executive producers, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and Showtime as the defendants in its complaint. The suit alleged that they tarnished the nation’s name by depicting “unscrupulous dealings and even criminal conduct” in one of its Season 4 episodes.

“Defendants did not obtain Plaintiffs’ permission to use the Cayuga Nation’s or Clint Halftown’s name or likeness in their television show, nor did they even communicate any intention to do so in advance of producing or airing the episode,” read the submitted court papers.

The complaint was referring to a “Billions” Season 4 episode titled “Fight Night,” which aired on May 5, where the plot depicted a fictitious tribal leader named Jane Halftown and Cayuga in an unflattering light. The problem was that there is actually someone surnamed Halftown in the nation.

“In the episode of ‘Billions’ that is the subject of this lawsuit, the Defendants did little service to the Nation’s rich history, and even less to Mr. Halftown,” the legal document stated. “Indeed, the Defendants, using the exact names ‘Cayuga’ and ‘Halftown,’ chose to portray the Nation and Mr. Halftown as being involved in unscrupulous dealings and even criminal conduct.”

At the moment, neither Showtime nor the three executive producers named in the complaint made any comment regarding the issue. Meanwhile, “Billions” Season 5 is expected to focus on the “game of cat-and-mouse between Chuck and Wendy, and also between Bobby and Taylor,” according to Screen Rant.

However, this makes for a perfect stage for another character to enter the mess to try and create an advantage out of it. The publication offered either the Russian billionaire Grigor Andolov or Rebecca Cantu as potential candidates for this wildcard character.

There is yet no official announcement for the release date of Season 5 of “Billions.” However, it’s highly likely that the show will be back by March next year, assuming that it sticks to its usual production schedule of the past seasons.