Linda Fairstein and Netflix Settle Central Park Five Lawsuit

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Linda Fairstein, the controversial former prosecutor involved in the Central Park Five jogger case, has settled her defamation lawsuit against Netflix and Ava DuVernay over the 2019 docuseries “When They See Us.” Fairstein sued in 2020, alleging that she was falsely portrayed as a racist villain who orchestrated the convictions of five innocent young men.

The case was set to go to trial next week in federal court in Manhattan. In the settlement, Netflix agreed to donate $1 million to the Innocence Project.

Fairstein will not receive money. Netflix also agreed to add this disclaimer to the front of the show: “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.” Fairstein said in a statement that the litigation has revealed the truth about the case.

She cited a judge’s ruling last fall denying Netflix’s motion for summary judgment, which held that several scenes in the series were not backed up by the historical record, and that a reasonable jury could find them defamatory. “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. “It was about setting the historical record straight that the villainous caricature invented by the defendants and portrayed on screen was not me.” Netflix also issued a brief statement, joined by DuVernary, Fairstein and co-writer Attica Locke. “The parties announce that they have resolved this lawsuit.