March 25, 2004
Mad Mad House Trial Spurs Suit
The March 18 episode of SCI FI Channel's original series Mad Mad House featured a "trial" that was the subject of a lawsuit filed last month by a non-profit group established to foster unity among the world's African-based religions.
In the episode, self-styled "voodoo priestess" Ta'Shia Asanti ran the house's eight residents through a trial game that incorporated elements related to the practice of voodoo, including earth or soil, honey, feathers and animal organs.
The trial was mentioned in the federal lawsuit filed in February by the National African Religion Congress of Philadelphia against SCI FI, its parent company, Universal Studios, and the show's producers, arguing that the show misrepresents the voodoo religion and casts a bad light on genuine practitioners of voodoo and other African-based religions. The suit specifically singled out the "voodoo trial" as an example of a "portrayal [that] creates an extremely negative image of the Voodoo religion and plays upon a long history of sensationalism, misinformation and bias regarding the Voodoo religion," according to court documents. The suit seeks a court order requiring the producers of Mad Mad House to change their advertising and programming to eliminate all references to voodoo.
The suit argues that Asanti is actually a priestess of "Yemoja in the Ifa tradition," a faith of the Yoruba people of Africa, and not a true voodoo priestess. The lawsuit argues that producers initially approached Gro Mambo Angela Novanyon—who identifies herself as an "internationally recognized high priestess of the Voodoo religion" and a founder of NARC—to appear in Mad Mad House, but she declined—an account SCI FI disputes.
Asanti's official biography says that she has spent 10 years training and studying in the field of African spirituality and, as a Yoruba/Ifa priestess, has embraced the sacred tenets of voodoo and other African-based spiritual traditions.
A spokeswoman for the SCI FI Channel declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is pending. The episode in question airs again on March 23 at 10 p.m ET/PT. A new episode of Mad Mad House airs March 25 at 9 p.m.