The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has asked Warner Bros. and the creators of “Richard Jewell” to release a statement that acknowledges their depiction of real-life journalist Kathy Scruggs is dramatized for the film, Variety reports.
- “Richard Jewell” tells the story of what happened to Richard Jewell, a security guard who was famously accused of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996.
- Scruggs worked at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time. She broke the story that Jewell was under investigation.
- The film shows Scruggs sleeping with an FBI agent to obtain information.
- The newspaper says there is no evidence that Scruggs slept with anyone involved in the investigation.
- Scruggs died in 2001.
The statement: AJC sent a full statement to Warner Bros, director Clint Eastwood and writer Billy Ray.
“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.”
More: The AJC reportedly hired Hollywood attorney Martin D. Singer to help them deal with the scandal, The Daily Beast reports. The lawyer is often used by media companies to combat journalists.
- “There is a rich irony in the fact that Marty Singer is now representing a media organization about its portrayal in a movie, because often you see Marty on the exact other side of the equation,” said Matthew Belloni, the editor of The Hollywood Reporter, to The Daily Beast. “I am betting that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution also recognized the irony of hiring Marty Singer and did so to make a point.”