She reportedly served as the basis fora reporter inthe 2003 novel Shikar and as a young detective in the 1997 novel Atlanta Heat., Wilde has addressed the criticism surrounding the depiction of Scruggs in Richard Jewell., I have an immense amount of respect for Kathy Scruggs," Wilde told The Hollywood Reporter. In hindsight, its easy to cast Scruggs as the villain, but Gugino said its not that simple. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Her own brother said of her, I loved Kathy, but she was crazy.. "Contrary to a swath of recent headlines, I do not believe that Kathy 'traded sex for tips,'" Wilde wrote. When Elisabeth Finch met Jennifer Beyer in 2019, the two women forged a fiercely loyal friendship, and eventually got married. I have been a life long lover of pop culture, especially television, turned that passion into writing about all things entertainment related. But there's no. Julia Morales is an American sportscaster as well as a pregame and post-game talk show star. For months after the bomb was detonated, he was suspected of planting it, resulting in negative publicity that came to symbolize the excesses of law enforcement and the news media.. This movie that supposedly aims to set the record straight often ends up regurgitating lazy assumptions. As Hamm told me during our interview, I really do think that the movie is an exoneration of a man who did his job and was wrongfully accused of something that he didnt do and is still thought of as something that he isnt.. On July 30, 1996, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the FBI investigation of Jewell as the potential bomber. The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed the Jewell case against the AJC in 2011. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. One wonders if it was because none of them were attractive, foul-mouthed women who wore fishnets and miniskirts. Powered by. Jewell, a security guard at the park, helped to evacuate the area after the bomb was discovered. For our 29th annual Hollywood cover, a dozen captivating young stars gather for the after-party of our dreams. On Thursday, Ray defended the filmexplaining that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution seems to be pulling focus to one single minute in a movie thats 129 minutes long. Wilde also tweeted to respond to the controversy, saying,I do not believe Kathy traded sex for tips and it was never my intention to suggest she had. Ray and Brenner, among others, claim that the outsize focus on the Scruggs scene is a deliberate effort to deflect from the real story: the Atlanta Journal-Constitutions flawed, and destructive, reporting on Jewell. Kathy did not personally apologize to Richard Jewell, However, the story haunted her until her death. Another such figure was Kathy Scruggs, who was a reporter at Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time of the bombing. With their, Video related to the sad end to atlanta bombing reporter kathy scruggs life, New Reality Star Lost Her Son to a Drug Overdose in 2009. So he said, Yeah, the names out there and I dont really know the details. So he couldnt really say it was accurate, but he said, Im not going to quibble with it. And then, will it screw up the investigation? Many journalists have strongly criticized the portrayal as perpetuating a pernicious and false stereotype that some female journalists trade sex for information, which U.S. news organizations prohibit as unethical. It crushed her like a june bug on the sidewalk.. MANHUNT: DEADLY GAMES Official Trailer (HD) Cameron Britton, MANHUNT: DEADLY GAMES 2020 TRUE CRIME DRAMA CAMERON BRITTON MANHUNT: DEADLY GAMES will chronicle one of the largest and most complex manhunts on U.S. soil the search for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Park Bomber and the media firestorm that consumed the life of Richard Jewell in its wake. She was just 42 when she died in 2001. "The court found that what Kathy reported was true at the time she reported it," Kiss said. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. It was heart-wrenching for Richard, Alexanders co-author, Kevin Salwen adds. The Journal-Constitution has maintained that there is no evidence that Scruggs slept with anyone involved in the investigation and has demanded that Warner Bros. and the filmmakers release a statement acknowledging that they took dramatic license in their portrayal of Scruggs. The media hounding of Jewell was shown as being pretty bad, but it was worse in real life. Richard Jewell ended with a quiet showdown between Jewell (played by Paul Walter Hauser) and Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), and the FBI agents in charge of his case, led by Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm). The movietells the story of Richard Jewell, a security guard who should have been hailed a hero after he found a pipe bombpacked with nails and screwsin Centennial Olympic Park. The other questionable element of Richard Jewell is the portrayal of Kathy Scruggs, played in the movie by Olivia Wilde. Kiss, who worked with Scruggs in Anderson and then later at the Asheville Citizen-Times in western North Carolina, is livid about the film's portrayal of his co-worker and one of his dearest friends. Scruggs was the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reporter who first wrote about Jewell being on the FBIs suspect list. Bryant also had help from other lawyers to clear Jewells name. There was NO evidence to support a storyline that Ms. Scruggs traded sex for tips about Richard. While others were under suspicion, Martz at least thought Jewell was the lead suspect. The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, strongly suggests that the reporter, Kathy Scruggs of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, slept with an FBI agent to get information on the investigation. Want to get a room or just go to my car? Scruggs asks after he reveals Jewells name. 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While researching his first novel, Atlanta Heat, Coram spent several days a week for a few years at Manuels Tavernthe homicide cop hangout where Scruggs would sidle up to cops over liquid lunches and happy hours in hopes of coaxing out new information. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. From there, Jewell spent nearly three months being questioned, probed, discussed, and hounded by the media--who labeled him guilty without any real evidence. As well be discussing the plot of Richard Jewell, expect spoilers. Eirianedd Munro (Adam Peaty Girlfriend) Bio, Age, Height, Family, Boyfriend, Son, Artist, Job, Net Worth, Lauren Snchez (Jeff Bezos Girlfriend), Age, Children, Husband, Family, Net Worth, Journalist. It was the early 1980s when Scruggs arrived in Anderson to be an education reporter. As an actor, its more complicated, and I want to share my perspective on my role in the film Richard Jewell. The reporters outside his home would even yell and harass Bobi and Richard to try to get a reaction to catch on film. She was just 42 when she died in 2001. Dreams of implants According to the 1997 Vanity Fair piece by Marie Brenner that the movie is partially based on, the case was being handled by an FBI division that had been formed to fight the Cold War, whose strength was intimidation and manipulation rather than the deliberate gathering of evidence to be presented in court.. Jewells death is noted at the end. Wilde concluded her string of Twitter posts on Thursday by saying that Scruggs "unfortunately became a piece of the massive puzzle that was responsible for the brutal and unjust vilification of. But in the end, it actually did screw up the investigation because nobody among the FBI supervisors had any intention of letting word out that Richard Jewell was a suspect.. Longtime friend Lisa Griffin told the Journal-Constitution that she spoke with Scruggs on the phone shortly before she died. Perhaps, but its hard to have that discussion when the movie unfairly paints one of the players in it as an unscrupulous news ghoul. Jewell died in 2007 at age 44. Kathy Scruggs, who was a very accomplished and very aggressive police reporter, had a motto: Im not in the business of being last. And she decided that she was going to be her usual aggressive self and made call after call to law enforcement sources. In the end, Kathy Scruggs greatest crime was being interesting. Could never apologize or admit she got it wrong, and put someone through utter hell for it Richard Jewell, an American security guard and a police officer got entangled in a web of investigation and media trial after he became a suspect in the investigation. Later, movie-Scruggs is moved to tears at a Jewell press conference, apparently humbled by the Jewells plight and ashamed at her own actions the movies way of showing that Scruggs had learned a lesson about being so aggressive (uppity?). The newspaper, in a letter to the filmmakers, has criticized the depiction of the reporter, indicating that there is no evidence to suggest this actually happened. However, Jewell soon became a public villain when it was leaked that the FBI was investigating him (Jewell would quickly be cleared of all suspicion). Carla Gugino as Kathy Scruggs in 'Manhunt: Deadly Games'. Her father, Lewis "Bubber" Scruggs Sr., was a Gridiron Secret. Her soul was gone. As for the bar scene, Kent Alexander and his co-author Kevin Salwen have declined to discuss their input, saying in a statement, We have been asked repeatedly whether we found evidence that Scruggs traded sex for the story. As Martz told the New York Times: [Kathy] could be flirtatious, but she wouldnt have done that sort of thing, because she was very conscious of her role as a reporter and she wanted to be known as a top-notch reporter. Kathy Scruggs herself wrote follow-up stories about Jewells shabby treatment and interviewed criminal profilers about how criminal profiling had been mishandled in the Jewell case. ", He went on to say that Scruggs was "one of the better reporters I ever worked with.". Her friends always believed stress over that story contributed to her failing health. Spent most of my life in various parts of Illinois, including attending college in Evanston. AJC ace Kathy Scruggs broke the story that made Richard Jewell a household name. It starts with them in a conference room conducting an interrogation of Jewell. Scruggs died in 2001, so she cant dispute the films portrayal of her, but she might not have been as ruthless as shown in Richard Jewell. I am sorry, but it is not enough to say, law enforcement thinks. And they didnt even say that. Citing the paper that reported there was no evidence against Jewell, Brenner said, The New York Timesand its editor Joe Lelyveld knew better., King acknowledged that the Richard Jewell case was a turning point in a lot of newspaper discussions about where to draw the line when on identifying suspects. And I think those are good lessons to share with a movie-going audience, that there are people who are the subject of newspaper stories and of government investigations who look as guilty as Richard appeared to look in those initial stories but who ultimately are totally innocent and whose reputations are dragged through the mud for all the wrong reasons., Scruggs died in 2001 from a prescription drug overdose, due, in part, to a chronic back problem, still troubled by the repercussions of her Jewell reporting. He was given life in prison without parole. The small changes here and there are understandable because its a film that needs to entertain as much as its trying to inform. The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed the Jewell case against the AJC in 2011. Centennial Olympic Park bombings are depicted in a film. It was in 1998, and he then spent over five years on the run living and surviving in the wilderness. Specifically, Riley has pointed to a scene in Richard Jewell that implies Scruggs, who died in 2001, traded sex for storiesa scene that has incited an internet firestorm and prompted the AJC to demand a disclaimer on the movie. "Kathy was just luminous," Parke said. Ashley Willcott is a former judge, trial lawyer, television anchor, and media consultant for lawyers child welfare influencer. The book describes Scruggs as the kind of woman who packed perfume and a pistol in her purse, wore leather miniskirts and fishnet tights to the office, and kept her blouse unbuttoned beyond what some might feel was workplace-appropriate. Support stories like this by supporting local journalism. But she was a good reporter. Heres a guy who hadnt had a date in a year and the first time he goes out, it turns out the woman is a reporter that writes a story about him, Alexander says. Goads her bosses into rushing the story into print "That story might not win anyone an Oscar, but it is the truth under the evidence," Wood wrote. The media as a whole certainly wasnt innocent in the case. "If they had actually contacted me, it might have ruined their idea of what they wanted the story to be," Martz told the newspaper. Says a prayer directly after the bombing not for the victims, but for the murderer to be interesting But the truth being obscuredis something that'sbeing brought up for another reason in relation to the film:Many are furious with its depiction of journalist Kathy Scruggs, who broke the Jewell FBI investigation story. He received a public apology from Jay Leno, a $200,000 settlement from CNN, and an almost $600,000 settlement from NBC, among others. Even the AJCs house style, voice-of-God narration that stressed declarative sentences over attribution, news in bite-sized chunklets in an attempt to mimic USA Today, deserves some blame making Jewell fit the profile of the lone bomber sound like objective fact rather than the opinion of the FBI, who created said profile. Columnist Hollis Gillespie went on a date with Jewell after meeting him on an airplane, only to write up the whole thing in Atlanta Magazine, along with a follow-up piece in which she appeared on the cover. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Most people within the Atlanta Journal-Constitution thought that everybody would get the story at the same time, that it would essentially be a tie, Kent Alexander, co-author of The Suspect told me. But she was always agood reporter with a tremendous work ethic, said Gouch and Kiss. Martz, who made the call to confirm the story with the FBI, said he wanted to make sure that, one, the story wasnt going to screw up the investigation. "Nothing in my research suggested she did so, and it was never my intention to suggest she had. It also started her downward spiral. The claim was that Jewell's reputation had been injured by the AJC and others. They launch a distraction campaign. The films depiction of her is not only wrong, but unnecessary. Read More Ashley Willcott Court Tv Husband, Age, Height, Salary, Net WorthContinue. Scruggs' former friends and colleagues spoke about the journalist's legacy at The Journal-Constitution for an article in the newspaper titled "The Ballad of Kathy Scruggs." As for Olivia Wildes notion of why people arent complaining about Jon Hamms character, thats an easy one: Tom Shaw isnt a real person. I have mixed feelings about it. "Her heart gave away. Richard Jewell takes an interesting real-life character and flattens her into a lame trope of reporter-who-sleeps-with-sources, not to mention a woman who uses her sexuality to get what she wants and needs to be humbled and tamed. In December 2019, a biographical drama film Richard Jewel was released portraying the real life of Jewell. By then, Scruggs had been dead for a decade. Thats just bullshit.. The second season of "Manhunt: Deadly Games'' takes on the saga of Eric Rudolph and Richard Jewell. The trouble is, that character sounds a lot more interesting than what we get in Richard Jewell, a character we first meet when she storms into the AJC newsroom, wearing a gold necklace that says KATHY, flipping the bird to fellow reporters (theyre jealous, apparently) and telling a colleague that shes considering getting breast implants. Wilde also said in her Twitter thread that Scruggs was at the center of the "brutal and unjust vilification" of Jewell and that the film centered on the tragedy of the accusations against him. To say that Kathy Scruggs had sex with an FBI agent (or at the very least fondled his crotch) to get the Jewell scoop when theres no evidence of that is defamatory enough, and that has nothing to do with sexism or double standards. We never made such a false & damning claim. She was born on Sept. 26, 1958, in Atlanta. After the bombing fiasco, Jewell went on to get married, realized his dream of becoming a cop (The Suspect details a later incident in which Jewell performed CPR on a dying infant, saving its life), and bought a 26-acre farm in rural Georgia. The incident took place in Atlanta in 1996, during the Summer Olympics. I feel like we were struggling throughout to give more and more time to her story and to really help you understand her world and the toll that these events took on her life., Without enough time to spend with her story, she becomes a culprit. According to The Washington Post, Jewell stated that the lawsuits werent about the money --because most of it went to lawyer fees, taxes, and a new home for his mother-- but to ensure that the truth was told. That FBI agent is identified by name in The Suspect, but, tellingly, not in the movie* (book spoilers in the footnote). Scruggs is not. TIL reporter Kathy Scruggs who broke the story of Richard Jewell being investigated as the Atlanta Olympics bomber, died of a drug overdose in 2001. . By discovering the device and swiftly reporting it, Jewell helped ensurethe area was able to be cleared enough to avoid mass casualties, although two people still died and 111 were injured when it exploded. Ad Choices. We dont do that to men, we dont do that to James Bond we dont say James Bond isnt a real spy because he gets his information sometimes by sleeping with women as sources. The most important rule of reporting is never to reveal a suspects name without corroborating evidence. The movie doesnt address these lawsuits, but they play an important part in Jewells continued quest to have his name cleared and repaired. Eric Rudolph did three other bombs, four in total, before he became a suspect. Kathy had an elder brother called Lewis Scruggs Jr. who worked in the insurance business. By then, Scruggs had been dead for a decade. The deputy attorney general called that morning, and said, essentially, Get that woman off the air. Ezra Millers Messiah Delusions: Inside. Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Tom Brokaw, who said the FBI probably had enough to convict Jewell but were just trying to collect all the evidence, does get a soundbite in the film. The reporters attire, according to Alexander and Salwen, did little to dispel a growing sleeps with her sources reputation. But in a statement to Vanity Fairs Joe Pompeo this week, the authors clarified that their five years of researchwhich encompassed dozens of interviews about Scruggs and an examination of thousands of pages of her deposition testimony and news articlesnever turned up evidence that Scruggs ever traded sex for a story. Nor does Nancy Grace, a then-assistant DA who said on television that Richard Jewell did not deserve the presumption of innocence. While other outlets settled, the AJC didn't. In the 1990s, Scruggs was known for her solid reporting, her tight relationship with local law enforcement, and also her hard-partying ways, something that was exacerbated after she set off the media firestorm directed at Jewell. When you reach the Richard Jewell ending, you feel a deeper understanding of him as a human and his friendship with lawyer Watson Bryant. In a letter sentthis week to Eastwood, screenwriter Billy Ray, Warner Brothers and others, the AJC is demanding a "prominent disclaimer" be added to the film to acknowledge that some of the events portrayed in itwere "imagined for dramatic purposes, and artistic license and dramatization were used in the films portrayal of events and characters," the AJC reported. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The attorney for Richard Jewell, who came under suspicion in the 1996 Olympic Park bombing before he was exonerated, criticized the movie "Richard Jewell" on Thursday night, calling its depiction of a reporter at the center of the movie "false and damning.". Its both incorrect and unfair, blaming her for things she didnt do and turning her into a less compelling character in the process. The AJCs reporter is reduced to a sex-trading object in the film, theletter says, according to the newspaper. Kathy Scruggs herself wrote follow-up stories about Jewell's shabby treatment and interviewed criminal profilers about how criminal profiling had been mishandled in the Jewell case. A few days before Richard Jewells release, King was unsure whether he would see the film. It might be a valuable discussion to have, whether Scruggs, Martz, and the AJC erred in running with the Jewell-as-prime-suspect story, even if it was well-sourced, true, and okayed before publication. "Shes no longer with us, she died very young, and I feel a certain responsibility to defend her legacy which has now been, I think unfairly, boiled down to one element of her personality, one inferred moment in the film. Im thinking D-cups, movie-Scruggs growls, cupping her breasts for effect. She had this big personality the kind you never forget.". Heres how it works. Shes flawed, and really complex, and really interesting. After 88 days of public scrutiny, he was cleared as a suspect. 111 people were still injured, and two people died: Alice Hawthorne and Melih Uzunyol, a Turkish cameraman who had a heart attack while trying to cover the event. The Vanity Fair article only briefly discusses Scruggs, and calls her an FBI "groupie. It also mentions her being kind of a tough journalist, but never demonizes her in the way the film does. In the movie, much of the blame for that seems to land on Kathy Scruggs, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). The movie focuses on the security guard who was heralded for saving lives when a bomb went off in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in 1996, but who later became a suspect in the bombing. According to the Columbia article, they also tried to be careful with the wording. However, the film was criticized for its portrayal of a real-life reporter, Kathy Scruggs. Age, Height, Salary, Net Worth, Podcast, Andrew Nichols CBC Salary, Age, Height, Wife, College, Net Worth, Ashley Willcott Court Tv Husband, Age, Height, Salary, Net Worth, Craig Herrera FOX Weather Salary, Age, Husband, Leaving KING 5. It was just hard living," her brother told the AJC. Shewould wear that frustration on her sleeve. Richard Jewell is one of the great movies currently available to stream on HBO Max. Even highly respected journalists like Katie Couric tracked Jewell down when he canceled an interview with her. Early buzz for Clint Eastwoods latest film indicates that both Paul Walter Hauser and Sam Rockwell have a fighting chance. And what do they decide to do? Eric Rudolph, an American domestic terrorist, was later found to have been responsible for setting off the bomb, which killed one person and injured 111 other people at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in July 1996. She became popular in the 1990s for breaking the story that the FBI was investigating security guard Richard Jewell as a possible suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics bombing. Scruggs died of "acute morphine toxicity," Kiss said, and he believes the stress of the Jewell story and the related litigation contributed to her death. Tell me this wouldnt have made an incredible movie from The Death Of Dick Long guys so many Southern oddballs! . She nonetheless gets the information, while fondling for his crotch. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. and Eastwood's direction. All rights reserved. ", Eric Rudolph, the actual bomber, was found in 2003, rummaging through trash behind a grocery store in Murphy, North Carolina. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as one . In addition to suffering from depression, she had a chronic back problem. The AJC and other media were suedafter Jewell was cleared. How this story and source was gotten was never my interest., When Brenner read the rumor about Scruggs trading sex for stories in Alexander and Salwens book, she felt it was deeply problematic: Inevitably men get it wrong when they try to write about a womans sexuality., Both Brenner and Billy Ray, though, say the focus on Scruggs is a diversionary tactic. Unfortunately, Scruggs can't come forward to defend herself, either: She died in 2001 at the age of 42 from an overdose of prescription pain pills, according to Poytner. The FBI greenlit the entire thing. One of the people she called got back to her and said Meet me in a bar after work. And so she goes to the bar and she learns that Richard Jewell, who up to that point had been the hero, was the guy that the FBI believed was the prime suspect., Translation: the FBI fed her the story. Manhunt: Deadly Games airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Getty Its like, well, the names out there. Kathleen Kathy Scruggs was a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who broke the story that the FBI was investigating security guard Richard Jewell as a possible suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics bombing. Eric Rudolph eventually confessed and pleaded guilty to that bombing and other attacks. They editorialized wildly and printed assumptions as facts. While the movie portrays an FBI case agent leaking Jewell's name to Atlanta Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs, who has since died, there is no basis for the claim. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Within days, the law enforcement wannabe becomes the FBIs number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart, a Warner Brothers press release obtained by Oxygen.com states. "You always knew when Kathy was in the room," said her former colleagueJohn Gouch. To play this as Kathy Scruggs willingly burning her source and jeopardizing an investigation is unfair. Wood went on to write that evidence showed Scruggs was dating an Atlanta police officer at the time of the investigation and that the newspaper independently confirmed with the FBI that Jewell was a leading suspect before publication. The polygraph seems to be the final nail in the FBIs attempt at finding evidence against Jewell. "It's obvious to me they did not go to any great lengths to find out what the real characters were like.
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