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The studio and leading creatives behind the Prime Video series Criminal have filed a forceful legal response to a former production assistant’s harassment suit, calling the claims unfounded and opportunistic. The defendants — including Amazon MGM and creator Ed Brubaker — say the allegations, filed on September 2, will not withstand the court process and seek a hearing in mid-October.
Defendants push back: a demurrer and a pointed rebuttal
In a demurrer filed this week, lawyers for Amazon MGM, Ed Brubaker, executive producer Phillip Barnett and others argue the plaintiff’s account lacks merit. The filing opens with a blunt assertion that, while the court must accept certain allegations for the purpose of a demurrer, the underlying evidence will show the plaintiff is “an opportunist, not a victim.”
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The response singles out what it calls the complaint’s most dramatic charge: that Brubaker aimed a “functional firearm” at the plaintiff’s face and pulled the trigger. “His most sensational allegation — that Brubaker pointed a functional firearm at his face and pulled the trigger — is pure invention,” the demurrer states, adding that no contemporaneous reports were made and that defendants first learned of the story only after the plaintiff “reemerged peddling the story and demanding a payday.”
What the complaint alleges
The lawsuit, filed September 2 and spanning 12 pages, was brought by ljaaz Noohu, who says he was employed on the series late in 2023 and dismissed in September 2024. Noohu alleges he endured “sustained sexual, racial, national origin, and religious harassment” while working on Criminal and describes the set as a “workplace made toxic and abusive by the very individuals entrusted with authority over it.”
The complaint also accuses the production of broader misconduct, though the demurrer disputes those claims and calls attention to the timing of the lawsuit.
Timing and the producers’ argument
Defendants’ counsel contend the timing of the suit is telling. In the filing, identified as from GT lawyers, they argue Noohu waited roughly twenty months before filing and only acted as publicity for the show was about to begin. “The timing of that election gives the game away,” the filing reads, suggesting the complaint was brought on the eve of the series’ press activities to increase leverage.
Series context and cast
Criminal, adapted from the graphic novels by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, was ordered to series by Prime Video in January 2024. The production has assembled a notable cast, including Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke, Luke Evans, Garrett Hedlund and Richard Jenkins, but Prime has not announced a release date.
Next steps in court
The defendants have asked Los Angeles Superior Court to calendar a hearing on the demurrer for October 15 before Judge William Fahey. That hearing will determine whether the case moves forward as currently pleaded or whether the court requires a revised complaint before litigation proceeds.
