In a setback for Apple TV’s budding French-language content slate, the streaming giant has been compelled to abandon its highly anticipated crime thriller series “The Hunt” (“Traqués”), following explosive allegations of plagiarism against its creator. The scandal, which has rocked the European entertainment industry, centers on claims that the show’s script and storyline were lifted almost verbatim from an existing French graphic novel and TV project. This development not only highlights the perils of intellectual property theft in the streaming era but also raises questions about Apple’s vetting processes for international productions.
The controversy erupted earlier this month when French author and comic book creator Julien Blondel, known for his work on the acclaimed graphic novel series W_E_ (a gritty tale of surveillance and pursuit in a dystopian France), publicly accused Traqués‘ creator, a relatively unknown screenwriter named Lucas Moreau, of wholesale plagiarism. According to Blondel’s detailed exposé shared on social media and corroborated by industry insiders, Moreau had pitched Traqués to Apple Studios Paris as an original concept. However, side-by-side comparisons revealed striking similarities: identical plot twists involving a rogue intelligence operative evading a shadowy government agency, recurring motifs of urban cat-and-mouse chases through Paris’s underbelly, and even verbatim dialogue lifted from W_E_‘s third volume, published in 2022.
Blondel wasn’t alone in his outrage. The allegations quickly snowballed when it emerged that Moreau had also drawn inspiration—without attribution — from the 2021 French miniseries Les Invisibles, a Canal+ production about undercover agents in a surveillance state. A forensic analysis by the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), France’s leading authors’ rights organization, confirmed that over 40% of Traqués’ pilot script overlapped with protected material from these sources. “This isn’t homage; it’s highway robbery,” Blondel told Le Monde in an interview. “Apple was about to greenlight a show that could have fooled audiences into thinking it was fresh, but it’s a Frankenstein of stolen ideas.”
Apple TV acted swiftly upon receiving the formal complaint from Blondel’s legal team on November 10, 2025. In a terse statement released via its European press office, the company confirmed the project’s indefinite suspension: “We take all claims of intellectual property infringement seriously. After a thorough internal review, we’ve decided not to proceed with Traqués in its current form to uphold our commitment to original storytelling and creator rights.” Sources close to the production reveal that the decision came directly from Apple’s content acquisition head, who reportedly viewed the evidence as “irrefutable.” The series, which had already cast rising stars like Adèle Exarchopoulos in the lead role of a fugitive hacker, had been slated for a 2026 premiere with a budget exceeding €15 million ($16.5 million USD).
This isn’t the first time plagiarism has derailed a high-profile streaming project. Just last year, Netflix faced backlash over similarities between its Spanish thriller Intimidad and an earlier Catalan novel, leading to script rewrites and delays. But Apple’s misstep with Traqués stings particularly in France, where the company has aggressively expanded its local output to compete with established players like Canal+ and Arte. Since launching Apple TV in 2019, the service has invested heavily in Gallic talent, producing hits like the Oscar-nominated The Tragedy of Macbeth (with French co-production elements) and the sci-fi drama Extrapolations. Traqués was positioned as a flagship for Apple’s “European Originals” initiative, aimed at capturing the continent’s 450 million potential subscribers.
The fallout extends beyond the canceled series. Moreau, who had been hailed as a “rising voice” in French TV circles after winning a minor César for screenwriting in 2024, now faces potential lawsuits from both Blondel and the Les Invisibles production team. Industry observers speculate that his career could be in tatters, with agents distancing themselves amid whispers of blacklisting. “In an age where AI tools make copying easier than ever, this is a wake-up call for streamers,” says media analyst Marie Dupont of the Paris-based consultancy ScreenTrends. “Apple’s quick pivot is commendable, but it exposes gaps in their due diligence—especially for non-English content where translation barriers can hide red flags.”
For Apple TV, the silver lining might be the opportunity to pivot to other promising French projects in development, such as a historical drama about the French Resistance co-created with Pathé. Yet the Traqués debacle serves as a stark reminder of the cutthroat world of global content creation: in the rush to localize and innovate, authenticity remains the ultimate currency. As Blondel put it, “Stories are sacred. Steal one, and you’re hunted for life.”
MacDailyNews Note: This article draws from Clément Garin’s in-depth reporting on Substack, where he unpacks the intricacies of the scandal for paid subscribers. For the original French analysis, visit ClemGarin.substack.com.
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