Rapper/actor Ice-T has been hit with legal action amid allegations he stole the idea for his documentary series about gangs.

The "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" star teamed up with producers at the A&E network to make "The Peacemaker," about ex-gang member-turned-mediator Malik Spellman and his efforts to stop violence on the streets of Los Angeles.

The five-episode series was broadcast in 2010, but now Roy Colbert, a gang mediator himself, has come forward to claim he was the one who came up with the idea for the reality TV project.

Colbert alleges he presented the proposal to Colleen Conway, A&E's director of non-fiction and alternative programming, in 2008 and then told Ice-T's manager Chris Smith about the plot after reportedly making it "fully and clearly understood" that the idea for the series, tentatively titled "Banging Peace," would only be used if he was involved.

He is suing both Ice-T and bosses at A&E for breaching an implied contract and is demanding undisclosed compensation, according to movie industry website Deadline.com.