'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina': Netflix Settles With Satanic Temple Over Baphomet Statue

Shortly after the debut of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina debuted, the series found itself in the middle of an unexpected controversy due to its use of a statue created by the Satanic Temple. The organization took legal action against Netflix for using a design of which they had copyright over, with Satanic Temple representatives confirming that the concerned parties reached a settlement.

"The Satanic Temple is pleased to announce that the lawsuit it recently filed against Warner Bros. and Netflix has been amicably settled," Satanic Temple attorney Stuart de Haan shared in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "The unique elements of the Satanic Temple's Baphomet statue will be acknowledged in the credits of episodes which have already been filmed. The remaining terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality agreement."

Shortly after the series debuted, Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, took to Twitter to point out the similarities between the statue depicted in the series and the monument created by his organization.

"It's deeply problematic to us," Greaves shared with SFGATE. "(But) even if that wasn't the case we'd be obligated to make a copyright claim because that's how copyright works."

The organization unveiled the nine-foot-tall statue in Detroit in 2015, which was intended to be displayed across from a statue of the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma. In the Netflix series, the monument appears in The Academy of Unseen Arts and represents connections to Satan himself, despite the real-life monument not intending to be modeled in the likeness of Lucifer. In that regard, Greaves feels as though the use of the Satanic Temple's monument could misinterpret what the icon is meant to represent and the "prominent use of this symbol as the central focal point of the school associated with evil, cannibalism and murder."

"It's distressing on the grounds that you have to worry about that association being made where people will see your monument and not know which preceded the other," Greaves detailed. "And thinking that you arbitrarily decided to go with the Sabrina design for your Baphomet monument, which rather cheapens our central icon."

With the current debut season of the series currently on Netflix, it's unclear when the credits will be updated to acknowledge the origins of the statute, though they will likely reflect the updates by the time the holiday-themed episode of Sabrina debuts on December 14th.

Stay tuned for details on the future of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

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