Leonora Ann Darby, an executive producer on the horror hit Obsession, has sued Tea Shop Productions co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane, alleging they cut her out of promised profit participation despite her pivotal role in saving the film's troubled edit. The California lawsuit claims Darby, who joined the company in 2019 and rose to become one of its three producers, functioned as the film's lead producer and was integral to reshaping its story and restoring its director, yet was denied recognition and financial benefits once the film became a major box office success.

According to the complaint, Darby pushed to have the edit returned to director Curry Barker, called for reshoots, and shaped key creative decisions, including the film's supernatural elements, before helping deliver it on time to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it sold to Focus Features for $16.2 million. Obsession has since grossed over $500 million worldwide on a reported $750,000 budget, but Darby says she was excluded from the film's premiere, denied public credit and ultimately offered only a $300,000 payment before her access to profit information was allegedly cut off, in breach of a 2024 agreement entitling her to a third of net profits on films she lead-produced.