Re:
@Btvs fan ; Oh, I'm an 80s era Trek fan. I Am Not Spock and Get A Life and all that. And when you need your fans for Tek War and the Star Trek films you directed, it turns out I am Spock after all. And then you look back on your career and life, and realize the key to happiness is treating the people who loved you a little better. I understand the property relationship is complicated.
But I am not questioning that. Per this rumor, Sarah is both powerful enough and emotionally invested enough to 1. Sabotage the hiring of a show runner for a new show (Also , was brought into the show before Zhao was hired) and 2. Sabotage the production of a pilot episode for the new show, and 3. Be compensated in such a way that she has nothing invested in the success or failure of the project.
To put it in Star Trek terms, this is like Leonard Nimoy getting the Director's chair for Star Trek III, cashing in the downside guarantee, spending a year making it the worst movie he could and retiring from acting afterwards. Not, getting paid for a profitable film, parlaying it into a successful career as a director et al.
An Executive Producer credit is usually an honorific for an actor. Her involvement in the show's production is going to be limited.
So sure, she could be doing that. But I think the most credible theory is that she and the rest of the cast and crew made a bona fide effort at making a pilot, but for some reason, it wasn't picked up. I am leaning towards the proposed production schedule reason, but that still isn't official yet.