‘When They See Us,’ the Netflix miniseries that recounted the reported mishandling of the infamous Central Park Five case of the late 1980’s, has become one of the streaming giant’s most critically acclaimed offerings since arriving on the platform in summer 2019.
Yet, despite its ongoing fanfare, there’s one the award-winning, Ava Duvernay special shouldn’t expect a “thumbs up” from – author Linda Fairstein (the former Manhattan District Attorney’s office prosecutor who fought to ensure their five’s convictions).
Nine months after taking to the ‘Wall Street Journal’ to slam her portrayal in ‘When They See Us’ as ‘an outright fabrication’ (as we reported here), the 72-year-old is taking her complaints to court.
More inside:
“Linda Fairstein, the woman who helped prosecute the now-vindicated Central Park 5, is suing Netflix and director Ava DuVernay over her portrayal in “When They See Us.”
Fairstein filed the federal suit Wednesday (March 18), saying she fired off a warning to DuVernay before her series was released. Fairstein says she was concerned she would be portrayed in a false and defamatory manner. She says it fell on deaf ears because Ava’s only response was Linda had no right to object before seeing the series. Once it came out in June 2019, Fairstein says every episode in which she appears portrayed her as a “racist, unethical villain who is determined to jail innocent children of color at any cost.”
In the suit, obtained by TMZ, Fairstein objects to nearly every single aspect of the case … as it’s portrayed in the series.”
Netflix fired back with the following:
“Linda Fairstein’s frivolous lawsuit is without merit. We intend to vigorously defend When They See Us and Ava DuVernay and Attica Locke, the incredible team behind the series.”