Newspaper Demands Disclaimer in Clint Eastwood’s Movie for Showing Real-Life Reporter Trading Sex For Tips
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution demanded the addition of a disclaimer in Clint Eastwood’s new movie Richard Jewell, Monday, which notes that “artistic license and dramatization” were used when portraying a reporter from the newspaper trading sex for tips.
A letter from the newspaper’s attorneys, which was sent to Eastwood and Warner Bros. on Monday, declared, “It is highly ironic that a film purporting to tell a tragic story of how the reputation of an FBI suspect was grievously tarnished appears bent on a path to severely tarnish the reputation of the AJC, a newspaper with a respected 150-year-old publishing legacy.”
“The Richard Jewell film falsely portrays the AJC and its personnel as extraordinarily reckless, using unprofessional and highly inappropriate reporting methods, and engaging in constitutional malice by recklessly disregarding information inconsistent with its planned reporting,” the letter proclaimed. “This, too, is the height of irony, since all those involved in the film’s creation and dissemination and its false portrayal of the AJC are the ones who have acted recklessly and are engaging in constitutional malice.”
The letter specifically notes the movie’s depiction of reporter Kathy Scruggs, who is reportedly portrayed in the movie as a reckless journalist who trades sex for tips.
“Ms. Scruggs was an experienced reporter whose methodology was professional and appropriate, in contrast to how she is portrayed in the film,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s attorneys expressed, accusing the filmmakers of reducing her to “a sex-trading object.”
“Accordingly, we hereby demand that you immediately issue a statement publicly acknowledging that some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license and dramatization were used in the film’s portrayal of events and characters. We further demand that you add a prominent disclaimer to the film to that effect,” it concluded, before warning to recipients to “disregard this letter’s demands at your peril.”
The newspaper called out the filmmakers behind Richard Jewell in an article last month, which also served as a tribute to Scruggs, who died in 2001 at age 42.
Richard Jewell is based on the case of former police officer and security Richard Jewell, who was initially treated by the media as a suspect behind the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Park bombing.
Jewell had discovered the bomb, and subsequently helped evacuate the immediate area.
Though the perpetrator of the bombing was later discovered to be Eric Rudolph, Jewell’s reputation had already been heavily tarnished, and he ended up suing NBC, CNN, and the New York Post for libel.
