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Satanic Temple sues Netflix for using goat-head statue in new show

Cape Town – A Satanic Temple in America is suing Netflix and Warner Bros. for $50m (R704.5m) over its inclusion of the goat-headed statue of Baphomet, known as the "Sabbatic Goat" in its new drama series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The Satanic Temple claims in its lawsuit that the show produced by Warner Bros., through using Baphomet, has infringed copyright and defamed its deity through showing the Sabbatic Goat in an unflattering light, thus damaging its reputation through associating it with "forced devil worship, cannibalism, and murder".

The statue appears in 4 of the 10 episodes that became available in late-October through Netflix.

In the series Sabrina Spellman attends The Academy of Unseen Arts where there is a statue of Baphomet.

The Satanic Temple says in its lawsuit - which was filed in New York federal court - that it designed and commissioned its Baphomet and that Netflix's "prominent use of this symbol as the central focal point of the school, associated with evil, cannibalism and murder, blurs and tarnishes the The Satanic Temple Baphomet with Children as a mark of The Satanic Temple".

They also claim in its lawsuit that its business reputation has been damaged.

Netflix "misappropriated the TST Baphomet with Children in ways implying that the monument stands for evil" says The Satanic Temple.

"Baphomet with Children is a unique work of art that should not be misappropriated as a symbol of evil".

Co-founder of the Satanic Temple Lucien Greaves tweeted a picture comparing the two statues. 

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