Executive producer Leonora Ann Darby has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against James Harris and Mark Lane, accusing the pair of denying her a fair share of the profits from Obsession, the record-breaking horror hit made through their company Tea Shop Productions. The 135-page complaint, lodged on 28 August in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges a "seven-year pattern of unequal treatment and broken compensation promises" and claims Darby was demeaned and sidelined despite being instrumental to the film's success.

Darby says she joined Tea Shop in 2019 on the understanding she would be an equal producer, entitled to a third of net profits on films she led, but claims she was instead treated as a subordinate. Obsession, directed by breakout YouTuber Curry Barker, turned a budget of under $1 million into a global gross of roughly $510 million, making it the most successful original horror film of the century, yet Darby says she received only an initial payment plus a later $300,000 sum, far short of her promised cut.