Skip to main content
Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
true crime
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Mastermind: To Think Like A Killer' On Hulu, A Docuseries About Dr. Ann Burgess, Whose Methods Changed The Way Serial Killers Were Pursued
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sasha Reid And The Midnight Order' On Freeform, A Docuseries About A Group Of Women Who Get In The Minds Of Serial Killers
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Nelma Kodama: The Queen Of Dirty Money’ On Netflix, A Documentary About A Brazilian “Dollar Dealer” And Her Blinged Out Ankle Monitor
-
Chilling 'Unsolved Mysteries' Trailer Teases A Severed Head, A Body On The Beach And More Gruesome Cases In Season 4
The real subject of The Staircase is less than pleased with HBO’s portrayal of his life. Michael Peterson blasted the Antonio Campos project in a series of emails sent to Variety, claiming it is not only inaccurate but irresponsible. Peterson, whose murder trial is depicted in both the 2004 Jean-Xavier de Lestrade documentary and this year’s Staircase crime drama, didn’t hold back with his brutal comments.
“I have read about Jean de Lestrade’s sense of betrayal by Antonio Campos and HBO Max’s presentation of The Staircase, but what has been forgotten or overlooked or simply ignored is his betrayal of me and my family,” he said to Variety. “We feel that Jean pimped us out — sold OUR story to Campos for money — what word other than pimped describes what he did?”
Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen, in 2003, and his trial was originally covered by Lestrade; the case also served as inspiration for HBO’s The Staircase after de Lestrade sold Campos the rights.
In the email to Variety, Peterson claimed Lestrade “released his archive to Campos who then created a fictional account of events, most of which trashed me (which I really don’t care about) and my children — which I really do care about.”
He continued, “There are egregious fabrications and distortions of the truth in the HBO series, well beyond what may be considered ‘artistic’ license.”
Peterson also claimed to Variety that de Lestrade did not tell him he had given the rights to Campos, which de Lestrade disputed.
“Jean should have known that when you sell your ass/property, you assume the risk of getting fucked/betrayed,” Peterson told Variety. “Every hooker knows this. So he got betrayed/fucked. Why should he be surprised? He was compensated — paid off. But we didn’t sell our story to Campos — were never even consulted or informed that Jean had done this. We are the ones who were betrayed, falsely depicted as fighting among ourselves (which NEVER happened), and with made up story lines that denigrate all of us in the eyes of millions.”
The Staircase is now streaming on HBO Max. The series finale premiered yesterday (June 9).
