Nolte: Judge Orders Defamation Lawsuit to Proceed Against Ava DuVernay, Netflix

A judge says former New York prosecutor Linda Fairstein might have a valid defamation case against Netflix and Ava DuVernay.

The case revolves around DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries, When They See Us, which DuVernay directed and co-wrote. The series tells the story of the Central Park Five case. In 1989, five black and Hispanic teens were convicted of raping a jogger in Central Park, New York, while out “wilding.”

In 2002, those convictions were overturned after a man confessed to the rape, and DNA backed his claim. Eventually, the five were released and awarded a $41 million settlement. Although the five are legally cleared, there are still some lingering doubts about their innocence, and to my mind, that doubt is valid. Everyone should read this superb piece by Ann Coulter.

This five-part Netflix series destroyed 76-year-old Fairstein’s life. That is not in dispute. After retiring from the legal profession, Fairstein was a successful fiction author who served on several boards. After the Netflix series aired, she was blacklisted by her publisher and forced to resign from those boards. Just like that, she was the corporate media’s newest racist villain.

And why not? As portrayed by Felicity Huffman, Fairstein was an unapologetic racist who didn’t care if the accused Central Park 5 were guilty or not. The accused were black and brown, and that was all that mattered.

So, in September of 2020, Fairstein filed a defamation suit against Netflix and DuVernay, claiming they deliberately sought to destroy her reputation using lies. The defendants hoped for a quick dismissal, but a judge said no.

The judged deemed Fairstein’s case solid enough to go to trial:

DuVernay, the judge wrote, said she “did not set out ‘to target’ or ‘cancel’” Fairstein. But he added that she came to have “‘no doubt whatsoever” that Fairstein was central to the investigation and prosecution, was ‘morally and legally culpable’ for the case’s outcome and that ‘she crossed moral and ethical lines and breached the public trust.’”

Fairstein, Judge Castel wrote, maintains that she “lacked the authority to instruct N.Y.P.D. members on interrogation techniques or to direct them to round up suspects, and that she never did so.”

The judge said there was evidence that “by opting to portray Fairstein as the series villain who was intended to embody the perceived injustices of a broader system,” the series “reverse-engineered plot points to attribute actions, responsibilities and viewpoints to Fairstein that were not hers” and were not reflected in “the substantial body of research materials” assembled in preparing the series.

This is the key: “Notably, Fairstein does not complain that she was defamed through the use of a fictionalized composite character,” the judge said. “Her claims are directed to words and deeds attributed to her by name.”

You see, instead of using a composite character, a fictional character with a different name, DuVernay used Fairstein’s real name. So, DuVernay had to have known – whether or not the portrayal was accurate — that she would destroy this woman’s name, career, and life. If it can be proved through discovery that DuVernay knowingly lied about Fairstein, that’s defamation. It’s also unforgivable, especially in this fascist climate.

Fairstein claims she didn’t lead this prosecution, and one report says that when DuVernay was asked if she had any evidence Fairstein led the prosecution, DeVernay said she couldn’t recall.

“Couldn’t recall.”

Fairstein’s evidence also includes a social media post from DuVernay that said, “She ’bout to feel it all.”

“She” was Fairstein, and DuVernay apparently published the post just as Fairstein’s life was being torn apart online.

It’s never about justice with the Woke Gestapo. It’s only about revenge and not even against the guilty party. Revenge for the sake of revenge.

John Nolte’s debut novel Borrowed Time (Bombardier Books) is available today. If you enjoy the book, Amazon reviews help enormously. You can read an exclusive excerpt here.