Netflix's Attorneys in Cuties Case Want Tyler County's DA Out of the Courtroom

A team of Dallas and San Antonio attorneys for Netflix wants a judge to stop the child pornography case against its drama Cuties, according to its latest filing.

Netflix's attorneys want federal prosecutors to oversee the case, instead of Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin, whom they characterized as a zealous district attorney who "has grossly abused his prosecutorial discretion and the State’s resources to wage an abusive and vexatious campaign against Netflix," according to documents filed in the U.S. Eastern District of Texas court.

Attorneys from the Dallas law firm of Carter Arnett and the San Antonio firm Prichard Young filed a 43-page temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction motion on Wednesday against Babin "from prosecuting Netflix" following a criminal indictment passed last year by a Texas grand jury. The indictment accuses Netflix and the makers of the French film, including writer and director Maïmouna Doucouré, of "promotion of lewd visual material" involving children.

"Netflix's showing of its likelihood of success and the other injunctive elements, coupled with Babin's conduct, warrants that kind of relief," the motion reads.

Cuties has come under fire from media and political critics since its premiere on the streaming network in 2020. The French film stars 11-year-old Fathia Youssouf as Amy, a Senegalese-French girl from a Muslim family who joins a child dance crew and struggles to find acceptance between her family and new friends.

Critics berated the film for allegedly promoting lewd material involving children, among them Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, the father of Tyler County's D.A. Doucouré responded to the backlash in a Time interview that Cuties "tries to show that our children should have the time to be children and we as adults should protect their innocence and keep them innocent as long as possible."

"Cuties uses the vast of majority of its 91-minute runtime exploring and portraying various relationships (e.g. fraternal, maternal, paternal (or lack thereof) and platonic), while vividly revealing to viewers the dangers and consequences of leaving children unrestrained from — and at the mercy of — the highly sexualized and media-driven culture in which they are now immersed," according to the new motion.

Netflix's attorneys called Babin's indictments "unconstitutional" for impinging on the streaming studio's and director's right to free speech by unjustly characterizing the film as pornographic material involving children.

A response to Netflix's attorneys' motion appeared in court records the following Thursday signed by several officials from the Texas Attorney General's office including Attorney General Ken Paxton. The response calls Netflix's request regarding Babin a violation of "the principles of due process and fairness" in court records.

The response says Babin only received an 18-hour notice to the preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order motion.

"This 'notice' did not provide Mr. Babin the opportunity to meaningfully oppose Netflix's application for injunctive relief or prepare for such opposition," the response reads. "Therefore, conducting the hearing on such short notice violates Mr. Babin's right to due process and the fundamental principles of fairness."

The response also says Netflix's request does not prove the existence of any "substantial threat of irreparable harm" if the motion is not granted.