Ex-prosecutor Linda Fairstein sues Netflix over her portrayal as 'mastermind behind racist plot' in 'When They See Us'
Linda Fairstein, the former prosecutor who ran the sex crimes unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 1989, reportedly sued Netflix on March 18 for defamation over her portrayal in the limited biographical series ‘When They See Us’.
Fairstein claimed that the miniseries about the “Central Park Five” — five young black and Hispanic boys, aged between 14 and 16, were falsely convicted for raping and assaulting a 28-year-old white woman — fabricated both her statements and actions related to the case.
‘When They See Us’, which debuted on Netflix on May 31, 2019, was co-written and directed by Ava DuVernay.
According to TMZ, she is suing Netflix, DuVernay and her co-writer, Attica Locke, for defamation.
The series featured Asante Blackk and Justin Cunningham as Kevin Richardson, Caleel Harris, and Jovan Adepo as Antron McCray, Ethan Herisse and Chris Chalk as Yusef Salaam, Jharrel Jerome as Korey Wise, and Marquis Rodriguez and Freddy Miyares as Raymond Santana.
Fairstein, as per Reuters, sued in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleging the series shows her as the “mastermind behind a racist plot” to obtain convictions at any cost. The depictions of Fairstein in these scenes “are complete fabrications and readily contradicted by evidence in the public record,” the lawsuit alleges.
“‘When They See Us’ portrays Ms Fairstein in a false and defamatory manner in nearly every scene in the three episodes in which she appears, portrayed by actress Felicity Huffman,” notes the complaint. “The film series’ portrayal of Ms Fairstein cannot be justified as the mere use of artistic license or dramatization. In the film series, which Defendants have marketed and promoted as a true story, Defendants depict Ms. Fairstein — using her true name — as a racist, unethical villain who is determined to jail innocent children of color at any cost.”
The complaint adds that the series falsely portrayed the fact that “Ms Fairstein single-handedly masterminds a theory of the case against the children by, among other things: unlawfully interrogating unaccompanied minors; calling for a roundup of ‘young, black’ ‘thugs;’ manipulating a timeline of events to pin the rape of the Central Park jogger on The Five; referring to people of color as 'animals'; directing NYPD detectives to coerce confessions from unaccompanied minors who are beaten while in custody; suppressing DNA evidence; and forcing her colleague to prosecute a meritless case against The Five. In fact, Ms Fairstein took none of these actions.”
“Linda Fairstein’s frivolous lawsuit is without merit,” a spokesperson for Netflix told Deadline. “We intend to vigorously defend When They See Us and Ava DuVernay and Attica Locke, the incredible team behind the series.”
Fairstein, now a crime novelist, criticized ‘When They See Us’ in an op-ed last year as “so full of distortions and falsehoods as to be an outright fabrication.”
Post the airing of the series, she had to step down from several nonprofit boards and was dropped by her publisher. She wrote in The Wall Street Journal then, “Ms DuVernay’s film attempts to portray me as an overzealous prosecutor and a bigot, the police as incompetent or worse, and the five suspects as innocent of all charges against them. None of this is true.”