Ava DuVernay and Netflix have settled a defamation lawsuit brought by a former New York City prosecutor who disapproved of her performance in the acclaimed limited series “When They See Us.”
Defendants Netflix and DuVernay issued a joint statement Tuesday with the plaintiff, Linda Fairstein, outlining the terms of the settlement. As part of the deal, Netflix agreed to move the following disclaimer from the end credits to the beginning of the show.
“While the film is inspired by real events and people, certain characters, incidents, places, dialogues and names are fictional for dramatization purposes,” the disclaimer reads.
The Los Gatos, California-based streaming giant also pledged to donate $1 million to the Innocence Project, a social justice organization that advocates for wrongfully incarcerated people. Fairstein will not receive any money as part of the settlement.
DuVernay issued her own statement saying Fairstein “had her husband call to drop” the lawsuit days before she was scheduled to appear before a New York City jury. The filmmaker said she and Netflix rejected Fairstein's original demands, which included “a cash payment” and a disclaimer that said “everything to do with her on the show was made up.”
“I believe that Linda Fairstein was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the Central Park Jogger case that resulted in the wrongful conviction of five innocent black and brown children,” DuVernay said in her statement.
“Linda Fairstein decided she was not willing to face a jury of her peers. It is a phenomenon that usually occurs with stalkers. When you stand up to them, without fear, they often take the ball and go home.”
Created and directed by DuVernay, “When They See Us” tells the story of the Central Park Five, a group of black and brown teenagers wrongfully convicted in 1989 of raping and attacking a jogger in New York City. The quintet was exonerated and released in 2002.
Fairstein, who worked for prosecutors in the Central Park Five case, is played in the Emmy-winning courtroom drama by Felicity Huffman. The former lawyer sued Netflix and DuVernay in March 2020 for allegedly depicting her “falsely and defamatorily in nearly every scene… in which she appears.”
The complaint further alleged that “When They See Us” unfairly portrayed Fairstein “as a racist and unethical villain who is determined to imprison innocent children of color at any cost.”
At the time it was filed, Netflix dismissed the complaint as “frivolous” and pledged to “vigorously defend” the show, DuVernay, and writer Attica Locke.
After “When They See Us” debuted on Netflix, Fairstein was fired from her literary and film agency, as well as her publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom. The lawsuit also said Fairstein lost consulting and speaking jobs because of the series.
“When They See Us” was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards and nine NAACP Image Awards.
