We understand why she was trying to make it in her world, and I think shes a pretty three-dimensional character.. 3 Might Make You An Emotional Wreck, How Bail Bag Helps The Formerly Incarcerated Get Back On Their Feet, Advice From A Finance Pro For How To Survive (And Thrive) In This Economy, Why We Shouldnt Forget About The Game Stop Short Squeeze, Five Cities Where Latinx Street Art Is Alive And Well, Travel Budgeting Pro Gabby Beckford Shares Her Best Financial Advice For 2023 Adventures, We Blind Tested Our Favorite Fast Food Double Cheeseburgers & Crowned A New Champ, How To Actually, Truly Buy Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon For Real, Were Picking The Very Best Air Jordan IIIs Of All Time, In Control: Quentin Grimes Is Writing His Own Story With The Knicks, Amanda Renner On Getting To Dig Deeper With Player Interviews At The Masters, Charlotte Flair Continues To Carve Out My Own Path Ahead Of WrestleMania 39, Maxo Decries The Face Of Stone Portrayed By A Fake Friend For UPROXX Sessions, Talib Kweli & Cormega On The Realness II, Nas, The Firm, Large Pro, Queens, Luh Tyler Goes Behind The Video For His Law & Order Visual, Sandra Mejia Is Bringing The Healing Power Of Plants To The Green Desert Of South Central Los Angeles, The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, The FBI, The Media, And Richard Jewell, The Man Caught In The Middle, trope of reporter-who-sleeps-with-sources. 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.. She broke the story that security guard Jewell at that point a hero for saving countless lives in the Centennial Olympic. The real bad guy turned out to be someone else, caught 7 years after the bombing. When Jewell died of a heart attack in 2007, he at least got to see the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, go to prison (six life sentences, plus 120 years). Centennial Olympic Park bombings are depicted in a film. And what do they decide to do? Shes flawed, and really complex, and really interesting. ", It really, really bothered her. Kathys downfall began when she realized how her story destroyed Richard Jewells life. Kathy Scruggs was the colorful and controversial Atlanta Journal-Constitution news reporter who broke the story that the FBI was investigating hero security guard Richard Jewell in the 1996 . Says a prayer directly after the bombing not for the victims, but for the murderer to be interesting The case wasnt dismissed until 2011, on the grounds that they were substantially true at the time they were published. None of the lawyers who pursued Scruggs get mentioned in the film. She was really tough and hard-nosed. Burns her source, breaking her promise to be off the record and jeopardizing an ongoing investigation. Yeah Kathy Scruggs and AJC said they only reported the truth - that Jewell was being investigated. The police caught on to Rudolph when he did a bombing in Birmingham. She was charming and kind, generous and profane, according to Tony Kiss, a former colleague at the newspaper in Anderson, South Carolina, who became her longtimefriend. Without an inkling of self-awareness, Awful Announcing is concerned about the destruction of a dead reporter's reputation eternally. "He called the paper, and the editor told her she needed to apologize. In fact, nine law. With The Good Doctor Losing A Character, How Worried Should Fans Be For The Season 6 Finale? The FBI greenlit the entire thing. Craig Herrera is an American host and meteorologist at FOX Weather. On the park grounds, he discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs and assisted in evacuating the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. When she died, she was facing possible jail time though eventually, the Journal-Constitution was cleared, with the Georgia Court of Appeals finding that the articles in their entirety were substantially true at the time they were published.. Read More Ashley Willcott Court Tv Husband, Age, Height, Salary, Net WorthContinue. While others were under suspicion, Martz at least thought Jewell was the lead suspect. Carla Gugino portrayed Kathys character. The trial by the media seemed vicious and not shown nearly as intense in the film. Clint Eastwood slanders reporter Kathy Scruggs in "Richard Jewell," his otherwise powerful and honest film. Kathy Scruggs' Death: How Did Kathy Scruggs Die? Her heart gave away. Read More Nikki Battiste (CBS News) Net Worth, Age, Husband, Son, Wedding and ABCContinue. Scruggs was the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reporter who first wrote about . I keep thinking, Im not going to go watch it, but then the cast is so damn good and this story is a good story, said King. 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. She was the daughter of Lewis Bubber Scruggs Sr. and Nancy Bentley Scruggs. In 2011, the suitsnaming the AJC weredismissed as the Georgia Court of Appeals concluded the articles in their entirety were substantially true at the time they were published. Even as a kid Jewell seemed driven by. 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. . Who was Atlanta reporter Kathy Scruggs? - ajc By contrast, when Kathy Scruggs died in 2001 of a drug overdose (possibly deliberate, according to The Suspect) just shy of age 43, she was still fighting court battles over her story. At the time, the coroner said it could not be determined if the overdose was suicidal or accidental. The film also takes liberties with how information and events unfolded. Perhaps the subject wouldn't be as commanding as she was. ", In addition to her depiction in Richard Jewell, out in theaters Friday, December 13,her life inspired two fictional characters. He appeared on the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list all five years, and there was a million-dollar reward offered for any info. Could never apologize or admit she got it wrong, and put someone through utter hell for it I probably will wind up watching it. When you reach the Richard Jewell ending, you feel a deeper understanding of him as a human and his friendship with lawyer Watson Bryant. Scruggs' former reporting partner, Ron Martz, played by David Shae in the movie, said no one from the film contacted him. 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. She was never at peace or at rest with this story, said Scruggss former co-worker Tony Kiss. They had noneand neither did the FBI. How that actually played out is an interesting, quasi-Coen Brothers-esque story in itself. 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). 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. A few days before Richard Jewells release, King was unsure whether he would see the film. Richard Jewell is one of the great movies currently available to stream on HBO Max. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. When Elisabeth Finch met Jennifer Beyer in 2019, the two women forged a fiercely loyal friendship, and eventually got married. 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. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. And two, that it was accurate, said Alexander. "If they had actually contacted me, it might have ruined their idea of what they wanted the story to be," Martz told the newspaper. "She was so, so alive." Scruggs was born Sept. 26, 1958 into a prominent Athens family. She did her job as it was then understood. The screen fades to black and the audience is informed that Jewell died at 44, Bryant and his assistant Nayda (played by Nina Arianda) were married and have two sons that Richards mother, Bobi (played by Kathy Bates) watches every Saturday. "There was NO evidence to support a storyline" that Kathy Scruggs traded sex for tips about Richard Jewell, his attorney tweeted. Scruggs isnt alive to defend herself, but Richard Jewells depiction of her had Scruggs colleagues at the AJC calling foul before theyd even seen the film. She is right now the face of justice. So I had to call the district attorney, and we went through this whole back and forth and Nancy didnt end up speaking about the Olympics again.. Olivia Wilde addresses controversy around her 'Richard Jewell ", 1/ I handled Richard Jewells case against AJC for 16 years. If you wanted to draw a Hollywood stereotype of a hard-charging female cops reporter, Kathy would fit that bill pretty well, King said during a phone call with Vanity Fair on Wednesday. Its based on the real-life events of the 1996 Summer Olympics and the Centennial Park bombing. Richard Jewell was under FBI scrutiny for about three months before he was cleared. By Doug Monroe - July 1, 2003 A crowd gathers on July 30, 1996, in. 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. Kathy Scruggs was an American reporter working for Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). ", Olivia Wilde defends her 'Richard Jewell' character amid backlash, Olivia Wilde said she heavily researched her role in "Richard Jewell," emphasizing Kathy Scruggs' "dynamic, multidimensional, nuanced personality.". That is entirely false and malicious, and it is extremely defamatory and damaging., The letter demands a statement publicly acknowledging that some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license and dramatization were used in the films portrayal of events and characters. True, Jewells lawyers surely got a chunk of that only one of whom, Watson Bryant, appears in the film, played memorably by Sam Rockwell. An AJC piece by Jennifer Brett quotes Scruggs brother, and her co-author of the original piece identifying Jewell Ron Martz criticizing the filmmakers for never seeking their perspectives. 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. 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. Richard Jewell Controversy: Fact, Fiction, And Reporter Kathy Scruggs Scruggs had discovered that Richard Jewell, the security guard who had evacuated the area before the bomb exploded, saving dozens of lives in the process, was a suspect in the attack. To play this as Kathy Scruggs willingly burning her source and jeopardizing an investigation is unfair. What happened to Kathy Scruggs? Learn about the reporter who broke the NY 10036. the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reporter, Gwyneth Paltrow Says She's 'Proud' Years Later Of Bringing Conscious Uncoupling Into The Mainstream, Credits It For Making Divorces 'Easier', Baby Fever Is In The Air As Bonnie Wright Is The Latest Harry Potter Star To Announce A Pregnancy, Pete Davidson And Chase Sui Wonders Were Both At The Bupkis Premiere, But Totally Avoided Taking Red Carpet Photos Together, Following Controversy Surrounding Netflix's Queen Cleopatra, Egypt's Council Of Antiquities Weighs In. "You always knew when Kathy was in the room," said her former colleagueJohn Gouch. 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. Why doesnt the film give time to people whose conduct wouldve actually warranted the villain treatment? Kathy Scruggs Death: How Manhunt: Deadly Games Reporter Died - Heavy.com Scruggs was born and raised in Atlanta. According to one of Scruggs' bosses, assistant managing editor for Olympics Thomas M. Oliver, the source told Scruggs that Jewell fit a patternOliver did not recall whether the word used was a "profile"of a wannabe cop with troubled experience in law enforcement. Days later, Scruggs was told by a trusted law-enforcement source that Jewell was also the FBIs foremost suspect. Please consider becominga subscriber. After Jewell was cleared, the media blamed her for making it public that Jewell was a suspect. Tell me this wouldnt have made an incredible movie from The Death Of Dick Long guys so many Southern oddballs! Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. His newscasts can be seen during weekdays at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM ET on the CBC News Network. Walter decided the story should use the word "focus," Scruggs would recall. Who is Ashley Willcott? Its both incorrect and unfair, blaming her for things she didnt do and turning her into a less compelling character in the process. Other news organizations, including NBC News, settled similar cases, generally for undisclosed sums and with the assertion that they stood by their reporting. Heres how it works. I have been a life long lover of pop culture, especially television, turned that passion into writing about all things entertainment related. It was just hard living, her brother toldthe AJC. Shestruggled with chronic health issues and had been on medical leavefrom the newspaper for about a year when she died, Kiss said. The film implies Scruggs gave sexual favors to get the information, according to multiple media outlets. Richard Jewell is an interesting exploration of this fascinating case of a man wrongfully accused. Unlike Tom Shaw, Kathy Scruggs, who died in 2001, was a real reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who really did break the news that Jewell was the focus of the FBI investigation. "The AJCs reporter is reduced to a sex-trading object in the film, the letter states, according to AJC. Required fields are marked *. Disappointing that they would apply this tired and sexist trope about Kathy Scruggs, a real reporter.. "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. Carla Gugino as Kathy Scruggs in 'Manhunt: Deadly Games'. Perhaps, but its hard to have that discussion when the movie unfairly paints one of the players in it as an unscrupulous news ghoul. By then, Scruggs had been dead for a decade. Olivia Wilde, the actress who portrays Scruggs in thefilm, took to Twitter on Thursday to share her perspective. Theres even another agent in the story named Tubbs. The FBI did in fact investigate Jewell, wrongly suspecting that he might have planted the bomb, and a court even ruled that AJC's reporting was . She'd launch into a story maybesomething about the person she had just run into,the interview she had just finished. Fair enough, and certainly Jewell deserves that, but Jewell already received the benefit of being exonerated during his lifetime. Related: Eirianedd Munro (Adam Peaty Girlfriend) Bio, Age, Height, Family, Boyfriend, Son, Artist, Job, Net Worth. He informed the FBI officials right away. 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. Eric Rudolph did three other bombs, four in total, before he became a suspect. Who is Craig Herrera? Kathy was known for her solid reporting. While there were a number of bad actors this includes journalists who did considerable damage to Richard Jewell's reputation, I've not seen where Kathy Scruggs' reporting went beyond the facts. When she went after a story she did what was necessary to get the story, within legal and ethical bounds., Her friend Susan Parke called her luminous, adding she was so, so alive. That FBI agent is identified by name in The Suspect, but, tellingly, not in the movie* (book spoilers in the footnote). It was like a vacuum, she said. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. The story contributed to her stress and failing health. Ad Choices. The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, says it is a story of what happens when what is reported as fact obscures the truth.. 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. She really always felt like they were supporting her.. Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 1, Scene Stealer: The True Lies of Elisabeth Finch, Part 2. Richard Jewell is an Academy Awards nominated film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. People have begun to do just that, and the criticism has, if anything, only intensified. Read More Craig Herrera FOX Weather Salary, Age, Husband, Leaving KING 5Continue, Your email address will not be published. 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. To coincide with the premiere of Manhunt: Deadly Games, a Spectrum original series about the bombing that makes its broadcast TV premiere Monday, September 21 on CBS, here is what you need to know about Scruggs, including how she died and how she too never fully recovered from the debacle of the 1996 Atlanta bombing. Carla Gugino plays her in Manhunt: Deadly Games on CBS. Why should Kathy Scruggs get named and shamed while the FBI agent who revealed the suspects name receives anonymity? She hated being lied to or used. I think we understand her. It all happened in 1996 when security guard Richard Jewell alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She struggled with chronic. Scruggs died in 2001 at age 42. In 1996, after security guard Richard Jewell discovered a bomb at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, helped clear the crowd and saved hundreds of lives, Jewell was declared a hero by the. I didnt want to back away from or soften [Scruggs], in any way, because I wanted to give people perhaps a chance of empathy, seeing a little bit of the world through her eyes, said Gugino. Clint Eastwood says no one really knows whether AJC reporter Kathy The other questionable element of Richard Jewell is the portrayal of Kathy Scruggs, played in the movie by Olivia Wilde. Please proceed accordingly). Eric Rudolph eventually admitted to the bombing and other attacks and pleaded guilty. For example, Bryant finds out about the FBI investigating Jewell from seeing the newspaper on the stands, not from Nayda showing it to him (as shown in the film). It was as much a contributor of her death than anything, her brother Lewis Scruggs Jr. told the AJC. She was also known for a foul mouth, low-cut dresses, and general wildness. She was never at peace or at rest with this story. 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. Author Robert Coram had a front-row seat to Scruggss dealings with law enforcement in the mid '90s. Decades later, how Scruggs is portrayed as a journalist is at the center of controversy that surrounds the film "Richard Jewell." Kathy Scruggs' Depiction In 'Manhunt: Deadly Games' Criticized By Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Clint Eastwoods film is based on the Vanity Fair profile piece (linked earlier) American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell and the book The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle. The Cautionary Tale of Richard Jewell: How a Hero Became a Media Victim 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.. However, the film was criticized for its portrayal of a real-life reporter, Kathy Scruggs. By no means was I intending to suggest that as a female reporter, she needed to use her sexuality. Rolling Stones film critic Peter Travers wrote in his review, The attempt to slut-shame a reporter whos not around to defend herself stands as a black mark in a film that otherwise hews close to the proven facts of the case." In 1996, after security guard Richard Jewell discovered a bomb at Atlantas Centennial Olympic Park, helped clear the crowd and saved hundreds of lives, Jewell was declared a hero by the press. In the end, Kathy Scruggs greatest crime was being interesting. People who knew her called her a true journalist. 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. Her father, Lewis "Bubber" Scruggs Sr., was a Gridiron Secret. According to the Vanity Fair article, Jewells phone number was leaked online and he received thousands of calls a day from people threatening him. In the movie, Richard is kind of portrayed like a bit of an outcast, mama's boy simpleton, but in real life, the article said he had an active social life, a complicated but loving relationship with his mother, and he was quite observant and smart. Nichols, who resides and works in Toronto, has been a newsroom reporter, a field reporter, as well as an anchor for the CBC News Network, Read More Andrew Nichols CBC Salary, Age, Height, Wife, College, Net WorthContinue. The suit was dismissed in 2011 when the Georgia Court of Appeals concluded the articles in their entirety were substantially true at the time they were published. But Scruggs was not alive to see her name cleared, and friends told the AJC that stress related to the case exacerbated her failing health. Who is Will Cain? The guy on the other end, agent Jay Spadafore, is a part-time PR guy, intentionally kept completely away from the investigation. 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. 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. It crushed her like a june bug on the sidewalk.. The media hounding of Jewell was shown as being pretty bad, but it was worse in real life. It haunted her until her last breath, her former colleague Tony Kiss told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a 2019 feature about her. Jewells death is noted at the end. Through social media posts, court records, and other primary sources, author Kathleen Hale forensically reconstructs their lives before the crime, and the night they were killed. Marie Brenner, who wrote the Vanity Fair feature on which the film is based, hopes that Richard Jewell might impact audiences the way the story affected her in 1996. In the movie, much of the blame for that seems to land on Kathy Scruggs, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). Its true we shouldnt boil the character to one sexual act (which, again, doesnt seem to have actually happened), but the film doesnt present much that would flesh out the picture. The reporters outside his home would even yell and harass Bobi and Richard to try to get a reaction to catch on film. ', there is no evidence that Scruggs slept with anyone. Richard Jewell movie accuracy: Fact vs. fiction in Clint Eastwood's Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 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. In the upcoming fictional film Richard Jewell, based on the true events surrounding the 1996 Summer Olympics bombing in Atlanta, there are a lot of real-life people depicted unfavorably, including, most distressingly to some,journalist Kathy Scruggs.
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