Post by vin on Dec 11, 2008 9:16:39 GMT -5
Hello there,
There used to be a time when I could just write you and talk about
anything. Well, every now and then I am entangled in some sort of legal
matter and I can’t send an email because of the judge's instructions or
the advice of my own attorneys. But I can tell you about this now because
it’s over. I usually don’t bring you the negative stuff but I know that
everybody who has rushed to tell you that I was being sued won't rush to
tell you that I WON! So, here it is:
For the last 7 days I’ve been in court in Marshall, Texas. So that’s why I
couldn’t talk to you last week about HOUSE OF PAYNE which, by the way, is
number one AGAIN! Thanks for watching it! This season is so great. Just
watch these new episodes. I’m so happy how they have turned out. Just
wait...just wait! The show just keeps getting better and better. I’m so
proud of the cast. They work so hard. It’s on tonight and every Wednesday
on TBS.
Now, on to why I was in court in Marshall. There is a woman from Dallas
who claimed that I took her script and wrote DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN.
Isn’t that crazy? Out of 13 plays, 126 episodes of a television show, 7
movies and all these DVDs, I have never had this happen to me. I don’t
even know this woman. To all the future writers out there and the people
who have gotten mad at me because I wouldn’t take your script and read
it--this is why I do not take scripts from people. And this has been my
policy since I’ve been in this business. I do not read or receive other
people's work. It’s unfortunate because there are so many great writers
out there who are trying to get a break. However, due to situations like
this, I cannot and do not. In my opinon, the reason they filed this case
in Marshall is because they thought I wouldn’t want to spend a week there.
They thought that I would give her some money to go away. That was a
foolish thought. She was attacking my name, so I packed my bags, rented me
a Nissan, and moved right into the Holiday Inn on Highway 59.
Now, I don’t know how this got to court but it did. These are the facts.
Even though this woman’s copyright date was 5 years after mine, she still
was able to file this suit even though I had never met this woman, nor had
ever seen her script. Her theory was that she had sent her script to
Oprah. Between that and this woman sending her script to someone else, who
gave it to someone, who gave it to someone else and that person, whomever
it was, MUST have given it to me. And it was also implied that until DIARY
OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN - The Movie was released, I didn’t have ANY success,
and that’s the reason I must have stolen her script. Now, you know that’s
not true. But I think the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my adult
life was to sit there and listen to these people imply to that jury that
I’m a liar and a thief. Now, that took me back to my father because I
couldn’t say a word. I didn't get to speak until I got up to
testify. Despite all of that, she was asking the jury to give her 41
million dollars. I so wish you could read her script. I can’t post it
because I don’t want her to try to sue me for that. But I’m sure somebody
has or will put it up online. The first time I ever saw it or heard it was
when my lawyer, Veronica Lewis (She’s an amazing lawyer. She practices in
Dallas.), made her read her script in court. As she read the first page I
was getting so angry because this was no where near DIARY. I had to lay
150 people off for a week this close to Christmas in this economy to go
down there. I had spent a lot of time and effort defending this thing. I
had to pray so hard after that.
Now, hear me clearly when I say this. I am not mad at this woman or her
lawyers. My prayer for them is, “Father forgive them for they know not
what they do.” No matter how I tried to be angry with her I couldn’t. As
awful as this was, I realized that if God did not want me to have this
experience, then no man on earth could have made it happen. Once I
realized that it became clear to me that there were lessons to be learned
here. What I have found out is that if God wants to talk to you, He’ll
stop you. And, unfortunately, I was so busy that I hadn’t had a revival in
awhile. So, I began to pray and worship. Once I got my emotions out of the
way and began to be present in the moment, I started taking notes of all
the lessons God was showing me. I was amazed!. Believe it or not I became
GRATEFUL! And when I became grateful, the rest was over. I WON THE CASE!
The jury was unanimous in their verdict. I WON!!!
I said all of that to ask you this. What awful things are you resisting
and regretting? Have you searched for a lesson in them? What difficult
thing are you going through right now? And are you surrendering or are you
fighting? The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes battles are
won by surrender, worship and being grateful. To all my folks struggling
and fighting, make sure you’re fighting to keep what God wants in your
life. Don’t let material things stress you out. If you’ve got to give up
the house or the car or the job, then it's okay! Don’t kill yourself
trying to hold on to what may need to be let go. I have been there. When I
was scrambling I had to make choices between gas and lunch. I was hiding
from the calls of the bill collectors on the telephone. To this day I
don’t like to hear the phone ring at my house. I'm serious! All of my
ringers are off. Fax me...LOL! Listen to me. I lost that apartment that I
showed you but gained a home. I lost my job but gained a business. I lost
my car but got a better one. Surrender. Simplify your life because when
you trust God life gets better.
YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT! SURRENDER! Let God take you where He wants you
to go. So, if you would take the advice of someone who’s been through a
lot, pray and say, "LORD, I surrender all!" Jesus didn’t have a place to
live but he always had a place to pray.
Tyler P.
There used to be a time when I could just write you and talk about
anything. Well, every now and then I am entangled in some sort of legal
matter and I can’t send an email because of the judge's instructions or
the advice of my own attorneys. But I can tell you about this now because
it’s over. I usually don’t bring you the negative stuff but I know that
everybody who has rushed to tell you that I was being sued won't rush to
tell you that I WON! So, here it is:
For the last 7 days I’ve been in court in Marshall, Texas. So that’s why I
couldn’t talk to you last week about HOUSE OF PAYNE which, by the way, is
number one AGAIN! Thanks for watching it! This season is so great. Just
watch these new episodes. I’m so happy how they have turned out. Just
wait...just wait! The show just keeps getting better and better. I’m so
proud of the cast. They work so hard. It’s on tonight and every Wednesday
on TBS.
Now, on to why I was in court in Marshall. There is a woman from Dallas
who claimed that I took her script and wrote DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN.
Isn’t that crazy? Out of 13 plays, 126 episodes of a television show, 7
movies and all these DVDs, I have never had this happen to me. I don’t
even know this woman. To all the future writers out there and the people
who have gotten mad at me because I wouldn’t take your script and read
it--this is why I do not take scripts from people. And this has been my
policy since I’ve been in this business. I do not read or receive other
people's work. It’s unfortunate because there are so many great writers
out there who are trying to get a break. However, due to situations like
this, I cannot and do not. In my opinon, the reason they filed this case
in Marshall is because they thought I wouldn’t want to spend a week there.
They thought that I would give her some money to go away. That was a
foolish thought. She was attacking my name, so I packed my bags, rented me
a Nissan, and moved right into the Holiday Inn on Highway 59.
Now, I don’t know how this got to court but it did. These are the facts.
Even though this woman’s copyright date was 5 years after mine, she still
was able to file this suit even though I had never met this woman, nor had
ever seen her script. Her theory was that she had sent her script to
Oprah. Between that and this woman sending her script to someone else, who
gave it to someone, who gave it to someone else and that person, whomever
it was, MUST have given it to me. And it was also implied that until DIARY
OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN - The Movie was released, I didn’t have ANY success,
and that’s the reason I must have stolen her script. Now, you know that’s
not true. But I think the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my adult
life was to sit there and listen to these people imply to that jury that
I’m a liar and a thief. Now, that took me back to my father because I
couldn’t say a word. I didn't get to speak until I got up to
testify. Despite all of that, she was asking the jury to give her 41
million dollars. I so wish you could read her script. I can’t post it
because I don’t want her to try to sue me for that. But I’m sure somebody
has or will put it up online. The first time I ever saw it or heard it was
when my lawyer, Veronica Lewis (She’s an amazing lawyer. She practices in
Dallas.), made her read her script in court. As she read the first page I
was getting so angry because this was no where near DIARY. I had to lay
150 people off for a week this close to Christmas in this economy to go
down there. I had spent a lot of time and effort defending this thing. I
had to pray so hard after that.
Now, hear me clearly when I say this. I am not mad at this woman or her
lawyers. My prayer for them is, “Father forgive them for they know not
what they do.” No matter how I tried to be angry with her I couldn’t. As
awful as this was, I realized that if God did not want me to have this
experience, then no man on earth could have made it happen. Once I
realized that it became clear to me that there were lessons to be learned
here. What I have found out is that if God wants to talk to you, He’ll
stop you. And, unfortunately, I was so busy that I hadn’t had a revival in
awhile. So, I began to pray and worship. Once I got my emotions out of the
way and began to be present in the moment, I started taking notes of all
the lessons God was showing me. I was amazed!. Believe it or not I became
GRATEFUL! And when I became grateful, the rest was over. I WON THE CASE!
The jury was unanimous in their verdict. I WON!!!
I said all of that to ask you this. What awful things are you resisting
and regretting? Have you searched for a lesson in them? What difficult
thing are you going through right now? And are you surrendering or are you
fighting? The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that sometimes battles are
won by surrender, worship and being grateful. To all my folks struggling
and fighting, make sure you’re fighting to keep what God wants in your
life. Don’t let material things stress you out. If you’ve got to give up
the house or the car or the job, then it's okay! Don’t kill yourself
trying to hold on to what may need to be let go. I have been there. When I
was scrambling I had to make choices between gas and lunch. I was hiding
from the calls of the bill collectors on the telephone. To this day I
don’t like to hear the phone ring at my house. I'm serious! All of my
ringers are off. Fax me...LOL! Listen to me. I lost that apartment that I
showed you but gained a home. I lost my job but gained a business. I lost
my car but got a better one. Surrender. Simplify your life because when
you trust God life gets better.
YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT! SURRENDER! Let God take you where He wants you
to go. So, if you would take the advice of someone who’s been through a
lot, pray and say, "LORD, I surrender all!" Jesus didn’t have a place to
live but he always had a place to pray.
Tyler P.