Former Manhattan prosecutor reaches settlement in defamation case related to representation in Netflix's "When They See Us" program.
Linda Fairstein, a previous member of the Manhattan District Attorney's office who handled the criminal case against the five young men who gained notoriety as the "Central Park Five," sued Netflix, producer and director Ava DuVernay, and writer Attica Locke in March 2020. This was reported by CNN earlier. The suit was initially filed in Florida but was later transferred to the Southern District of New York based on court records.
The case was "dismissed with prejudice," as stated in a Tuesday court filing signed by lawyers representing Fairstein, DuVernay, Netflix, and Locke. In a prior judgement, the defendants' motions to dismiss and for summary judgement were rejected by a judge.
A statement from Ms. Fairstein and her lawyers, Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP, Kara Gorycki, and Andrew Miltenberg, was released on Tuesday. It reads: "Today, after nearly five years of legal battles, Netflix, Ava DuVernay, and Attica Locke — the individuals behind the 2019 series 'When They See Us' — have agreed to settle my defamation lawsuit."
The series 'When They See Us' will now carry a disclaimer stating that certain elements of the show were fictionalized, according to a statement from Miltenberg.
The show told the story of the five teenagers of color who were wrongly convicted of being involved in the rape and assault of a woman jogging in Central Park in 1989. Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Antron McCray spent years in prison before their convictions were vacated due to DNA evidence. In 2002, convicted serial rapist Matias Reyes confessed to the crime, according to CNN.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, Netflix, DuVernay, Locke, and Fairstein announced: "The parties announce that they have settled this lawsuit. Netflix will donate $1 million to the Innocence Project. Ms. Fairstein will not receive any monetary compensation as part of this settlement."
In her federal lawsuit, Fairstein alleged that nearly every scene in the series featuring her, played by actress Felicity Huffman, were untrue and defamatory. While she led the sex crimes unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in 1989, Fairstein claims she did not personally try the Central Park Five case but did provide technical support to the lead prosecutor and served as a witness, according to CNN.
'When They See Us' was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmys in 2019 and won two awards.
- CNN's Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
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The settlement in Fairstein's defamation case against Netflix, DuVernay, and Locke comes after her claim that the series "When They See Us" portrayed her indefensibly. In the future, the show will carry a disclaimer stating that certain elements were fictionalized.
