Netflix has settled a defamation lawsuit filed by former prosecutor Linda Fairstein over her portrayal in the docuseries “When They See Us,” about the conviction and sentencing of the Central Park Five. File Photo by Christian Monterrosa/EPA-EFE
June 4 (UPI) — A defamation lawsuit over the Netflix docuseries When They See Us and its portrayal of former Assistant District Attorney Linda Fairstein, who prosecuted the 1989 Central Park Five rape case, was settled Tuesday just days before going to trial in New York.
“Today, after nearly five years of litigation, Netflix, Ava DuVernay and Attica Locke — those responsible for the series When They See Us — agreed to a resolution of my defamation lawsuit,” Fairstein said in a statement Tuesday.
Fairstein claimed she was falsely portrayed as a “racist, unethical villain who is determined to jail innocent children of color at any cost.” She resigned from Vassar College and a charity devoted to feeding ill New Yorkers when the series was released in 2019, before suing Netflix and the series’ creator and writer.
“The parties announce that they have resolved this lawsuit,” Netflix, DuVernay and Locke said in a joint statement Tuesday.
“Netflix will donate $1 million to the Innocence Project. Ms. Fairstein will not receive any money as a part of this settlement.”
Netflix also agreed to add a disclaimer to the series that states, “While the motion picture is inspired by actual events and persons, certain characters, incidents, locations, dialogue and names are fictionalized for the purposes of dramatization.”
The defamation trial had been scheduled to start Monday.
While Netflix and DuVerney had attempted to have the case thrown out, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled in September that there was “clear and convincing evidence that defendants were recklessly indifferent to the truth.”
In addition to seeking unspecified damages, Fairstein demanded an apology, the disclaimer and removal of the scenes she claimed were inaccurate.
When They See Us details the rush to judgment more than 30 years ago of five young Black men falsely accused in the 1989 beating and rape of a woman jogging in Central Park. Rayomond Santana, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusuf Salaam and Korey Wise were convicted and sentenced, serving between seven and thirteen years, before being exonerated by DNA evidence. They were awarded a $41 million civil settlement in 2014.
Fairstein, who was played by Felicity Huffman, was portrayed in the first episode of the four-part series as saying, “every young Black male who was in the park last night is a suspect.” Fairstein argued that the depiction was false and defamatory, and said Tuesday her lawsuit was always about her reputation.
“This is what this case was all about — not about ‘winning’ or about any financial restitution, but about my reputation and that of my colleagues,” Fairstein said in her statement.
“It was about setting the historical record straight that the villainous caricature invented by the defendants and portrayed on screen was not me.”
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