Viacom is suing Zeus Network for allegedly directly ripping of their hit improv comedy series Wild 'N Out and claiming that in helping create Bad vs. Wild, Nick Cannon has violated his contract with Viacom.
Zeus Network's Bad vs. Wild is a game show that Zeus Network says serves to settle previous beefs between cast members on other Zeus Network shows in a humorous way.
Each episode has a specific theme to the matchups and has a musical guest perform on the show. Themes from the episodes include things like "Baddies vs. BGC" in which cast members from Natalie Nunn's Baddies franchise faced off against the OG Bad Girls Club stars.
The show, which has Nick Cannon acting as an executive producer, is the center of a lawsuit between Viacom, the parent company of MTV where Wild 'N Out was produced, and Zeus Network. According to Viacom, Zeus Network didn't simply take inspiration from MTV's Wild 'N Out but directly ripped off the show, including taking Wild 'N Out's host Nick Cannon to be their executive producer.
Along with alleging that Zeus Network blatantly ripped off their show's concept and execution, Zeus Network is claiming that Nick Cannon violated his contract with the network by acting as an executive producer on Bad vs. Wild, AllHipHop reports.
According to AllHipHop, Viacom is alleging that Nick Cannon's contract prohibited him from working in any capacity on another show that seeks to imitate, replace, or directly compete with Wild 'N Out, so they see his role as an executive producer on a show that they think is so similar to the improv show he hosted as a blatant violation of that contract.
According to the lawsuit, Viacom is also alleging that Bad vs. Wild damages the brand that they built with MTV's longrunning Wild 'N Out because of the controversial themes of the series and the controversial jokes and occasional violent fights that are featured on the show.
Bad vs. Wild premiered in 2024 and has aired a total of 10 episodes with the last episode airing in May 2024. The show hasn't officially been cancelled, but it's unclear whether or not Zeus Network planned to continue the series in the future. Unfortunately for the streaming service, it looks like they might have to put future episodes of the show on hold if they were going to.
Viacom has requested that Zeus Network put an end to the production of Bad vs. Wild and to use the profits from creating the show to pay for Viacom's legal fees in this lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the involvement of Nick Cannon and several other Wild 'N Out crew members on Bad vs. Wild and the format of the show cause significant confusion and the content of Bad vs. Wild taints the image of the original show.
Zeus Network has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit, but considering the number of other shows that the streaming service is producing, it's likely that they're not concerned about losing one show. Zeus Network recently started auditions for their latest show, Baddies Africa, and they've started producing horror movies for their streaming service, so it seems like they're staying busy even outside of Bad vs. Wild.