Former Prosecutor Linda Fairstein Suing Netflix and Filmmaker Over Central Park Five Documentary
Claim: “the film series falsely portrays Ms. Fairstein as in charge of the investigation and prosecution of the case”
Linda Fairstein was the Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor in the 1980’s when a woman was attacked in Central Park. She claims that a documentary about the case released last year is full of falsehoods, and now she is suing Netflix.
The documentary has had an extremely negative effect on Fairstein’s career.
I wrote about this back in June of 2019:
A new Netflix series called “When They See Us” debuted this weekend and paints Fairstein in a very negative light. Now she is being purged at various charities and institutions, and there are attempts to remove her books from stores.
She is a graduate of Vassar College and has just resigned from its board of trustees after a Change.org Petition gained over 15,000 signatures. The office of Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley released this statement:
Announcement Regarding Trustee Resignation
Dear All,
I am writing to update the Vassar community. I have just learned from the Chair of the Board of Trustees that Linda Fairstein has resigned from the Board, as of today. I am told that Ms. Fairstein felt that, given the recent widespread debate over her role in the Central Park case, she believed that her continuing as a Board member would be harmful to Vassar.
The events of the last few days have underscored how the history of racial and ethnic tensions in this country continue to deeply influence us today, and in ways that change over time. As I have received many emails and phone calls from people who have expressed a broad range of views on this issue, I am reminded of William Faulkner’s quote: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
Michael Braun of USA Today has details on the lawsuit:
Former prosecutor, author Linda Fairstein sues over Central Park 5 series ‘When They See Us’
Former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein has sued Netflix and film director Ava DuVernay claiming the film production, “When They See Us,” about the Central Park Five case, wrongly showed her as a “racist, unethical villain” who was key in the convictions of the five black and Latino teens involved.
The suit names Netflix and the production’s Emmy-nominated director DuVernay.
Netflix released “When They See Us” on May 31, 2019. Fairstein is a Southwest Florida resident filed the lawsuit in Fort Myers.
Fairstein could not be reached for comment, but Andrew Miltenberg, her attorney, provided a statement.
“Most glaringly, the film series falsely portrays Ms. Fairstein as in charge of the investigation and prosecution of the case against The Five, including the development of the prosecution’s theory of the case. In truth, and as detailed in the lawsuit, Ms. Fairstein was responsible for neither aspect of the case.
Attorney Mark R. Weaver comments on Twitter:
If this goes to trial (defamation cases like this rarely do) it will be interesting to see how many facts from this “documentary” turn out to be false.
This op-ed she wrote suggests she would have a very good case: https://t.co/QUeMvZqWkh https://t.co/ez8oFB04nt
— Mark R. Weaver (@MarkRWeaver) March 20, 2020
Hollywood should not be allowed to rewrite history for the woke.
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Comments
It won’t go to trial, but I *really* wish it would
I am sick of people who watch a movie and think they know what happened at any given moment in history but ignore the transcripts of what actually happened
“Inherit the Wind” comes to mind. Can’t wait for a Netflix documentary to ‘exonerate’ Trayvon Martin
Netflix – for whatever reason – turned iself over to the obamas and susan rice.
The obama disease has hit Netflix.
Now, on that reason for Netflix turning itself over to the obamas: follow the money. In other words, what government handout did Netflix receive while obama was infesting the White House?
HEAR HEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was living and working in NYC at the time those monsters went on a rampage and I refuse to watch that garbage on Netflix. Fairstein should sue and I hope she nails them big time.
Similar to Oberlin, let’s hope damages go into the punitive arena.
She could have saved herself a lotta grief if she followed the same formula in real life that she uses in her books – the black guy(s) are never guilty.
Saw the show and was curious about it. After doing some more research, it was obvious that it was a hit job. Just like their Roger Stone feature.
These people should be help accountable for their miss information since people can not protect themselves against the media giants.
I lost track with all the revisionist history. Were any of those supposedly innocent “utes” actually innocent?
Of the rape? Quite possibly, though it’s far from certain. In general? Hell no. Nobody seriously claims that. (Note, “seriously”; plenty of people will say it but they’re not being serious.)
Just to be clear: There is no question that at the time the rape happened they were in the park, committing violent crimes against people. Possibly even against this victim. Did they rape her? The evidence is ambiguous. It’s certain that someone else did rape her, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t. But whichever crimes they did commit that day were surely sufficient to justify the terms they served.
I was last under the impression that all of these fine upstanding aspiring altar boys under suspicion coordinated their stories and put it all on one guy so the rest could skate. Was that not true?
No, the one person who we now know raped her was not part of their gang. His existence was unknown at the time of their arrest and trial. That’s why the discovery of his DNA in the semen sample cast doubt on their guilt. It’s possible that they all raped her, including this stranger. Or they didn’t and only he did. Perhaps he did the whole crime and they never touched this victim. But nobody pretends they were in the park for their health. If they didn’t assault this victim, they did assault others.
I hope she owns Netflix when it’s over. The people making these movies know they are false and know they are harming the innocent.
The people ‘making those movies’ are the obamas, and susan rice.
What money did Netflix receive when obama while polluting the White House?
Even NewsWeak gets it:
https://www.newsweek.com/obama-netflix-deal-worth-trump-films-tv-shows-1459571
Netflix is crap. All the junk I didn’t care to watch when it was new. And now their politics too.
I have not read up on the stuff so my opinion here is worthless re facts/lies.
I will just say this thought, very few “documentaries” are actually documentaries. they, to me, often seem very biased. I do think they are biased more in favor of the left but lets not kid ourselves and say paople on the right don’t also do this. But I have never seen a netflix produced documentary that was actually well researched and neutral. so I stopped watching them about 2012-2015 timeframe give or take.
“and say paople on the right don’t also do this”
Examples?
I’m sure there are a few but nothing like the tsunami of leftist bullshit documentaries.
It would be extremely hard for a right-wing mockumentary to get made and NOT be excoriated if it contained falsehoods
Roger and Me, Fahrenheit 9/11, or Sicko could never be made with a right-wing slant. Every MSM outlet would be sharpening their knives to personally gut the writer/producer/director that put forth even ONE false item while human slugs like Michael Moore are never called out for deceptive editing and outright manipulation of facts
One thing that is factual, if any movie produced states it is based on factual events, you can be rest assured that the majority of what they put on from the starting credits to the final credits is nearly pure fiction.
It wasn’t always like this. These days, with Mickey Moore and such making “documentaries”, these flicks are rarely anything close to resembling the truth. If you think any film made today is being honest about history, you will be duped.
I think it probably was always like this.
I used to follow the case of Stephen Avery. A lowlife that was falsely convicted for rape let out of jail and then went and killed another woman. Netflix produced a ten part series ( and a follow up series ) pushing the idea that he was framed. One of the cops this show focuses on Andrew Colborn , sorry if I get the name wrong, is also suing them also.
Hope you follow that a little more.
Want to know the truth Google up Ann Coulter on it she has written often about the case
Wilding kinda comes back to mind
Wow. She could be Hillary’s sister.
Is anyone shocked by this? The msm can’t even get a story straight that happened two days ago. They change words spoken. They omit words spoken that do not support their agenda. Hollywood is no better. In the old days of movies there used to be a standard quote at the beginning of every movie that said “Any resemblance to real persons or other real-life entities is purely coincidental. All characters and other entities appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, dead or alive, or other real-life entities, past or present, is purely coincidental.” In other words this movie is bull shit!
This needs to be reinstated and put on the screen BEFORE any actor’s names or the title of the movie. This should apply to any TV movie too.