Ava DuVernay And Netflix Will Head To Trial In Defamation Lawsuit Filed By Ex-Manhattan Prosector Portrayed In ‘When They See Us’

Academy Award-nominated director Ava DuVernay and Netflix are facing a major defamation lawsuit by former Manhattan prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, over the way she was portrayed in the 2019 docudrama When They See Us.

The series followed the heartbreaking story of five Black and Latino teenagers — later known as the Central Park Five, then the Exonerated Five — who were wrongfully convicted of the rape of a white woman in Central Park in 1989. They were exonerated after serving five to 13 years in prison when a separate man confessed to the rape in 2002.

Fairstein, who went on to become a bestselling author, filed the libel lawsuit after she was dropped by her publishing company, forced to resign from several boards and became the victim of social media backlash. While she led the Manhattan District Attorney’s sex crimes unit in the late ’80s, she said she didn’t personally prosecute the case and claimed producers acted with actual malice in the way her character, played by Felicity Huffman, was portrayed in five scenes, per Puck.

The alleged defamatory scenes in question suggest that Fairstein withheld evidence that could have been used in favor of the teenage boys — whom she refers to as “animals” — coerced them into making confessions, and ordered that the NYPD detain “young Black males” in Harlem.

A federal judge ruled that the suit would go to trial last week, claiming that DuVernay, Netflix and writer-producer Attica Locke “reverse-engineered plot points to attribute actions, responsibilities and viewpoints to Fairstein that were not hers.” He added that jurors can decide whether there  was “clear and convincing evidence that defendants were recklessly indifferent to the truth,” per Reuters.

The defendants argued that they were protected by the First Amendment and that the lawsuit endangers filmmakers’ ability to dramatize true stories from “different and often marginalized perspectives.”

A date for the trial has yet to be set.

Decider has reached out to Netflix, but did not hear back by time of publication.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.