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Linda Fairstein sues Netflix for portrayal in Central Park Five film
Former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein is suing Netflix for portraying her as a villain in the Central Park Five inspired drama series “When They See Us,” according to a report by Mediaite. The show centers on the trials and wrongful convictions of Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise for the …
Former Manhattan prosecutor Linda Fairstein is suing Netflix for portraying her as a villain in the Central Park Five inspired drama series “When They See Us,” according to a report by Mediaite.
The show centers on the trials and wrongful convictions of Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise for the 1989 rape of Central Park jogger Trisha Meili. The five teens were imprisoned and had their convictions overturned in 2002 after another man confessed.
During the teens’ prosecutions, Fairstein was the head of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Unit while the case’s lead prosecutor was Elizabeth Lederer.
Fairstein alleges in the suit filed against Netflix and the show’s producer, Ava DuVernay, that she was falsely portrayed as the mastermind of the DA’s case, the digital news site reported.
She insists in the papers filed in Florida federal court that she “was neither the lead prosecutor nor did she play any role in the courtroom litigation, other than as a witness.”
The series inaccurately depicts Fairstein as allowing the interrogation of unaccompanied minors, calling for a roundup of “young, black” “thugs” and referring to blacks as “animals,” the suit charges.
“The film series was deliberately calculated to create one, clear and unmistakable villain to be targeted for hatred and vilification for what happened to The Five,” the papers allege, which resulted in “the false and defamatory portrayal of Ms. Fairstein.”
A Netflix spokesperson called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said they’d vigorously defend the show’s creators, Mediaite reported.
Fairstein faced major backlash after the series aired. She was dropped by her book publisher and had to step down from several prestigious nonprofit positions.
The former prosecutor previously told The Post in an exclusive interview that she was forced to act due to the “mob-mentality reaction” to the Netflix series.
