Olivia Wildeis speaking out about the controversy surrounding her portrayal of real-life journalist Kathy Scruggs in theClint EastwoodfilmRichard Jewell.
The film, which is based on a true story, is facing backlash for suggesting that Scruggs — who has since died — had sex with an FBI agent in order to obtain information about Richard Jewell being a suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing.
“One of the things I love about directing is the ability to control the voice and message of the film. As an actor, it’s more complicated, and I want to share my perspective on my role in the filmRichard Jewell,”Wilde, 35, wrote.
“As a child of journalists myself, I have deep respect for the essential work of all in their field, particularly today when the media is routinely attacked and discredited, and regional papers like theAJCare disappearing on a daily basis.”
“I do not believe that Kathy ‘traded sex for tips.’ Nothing in my research suggested she did so, and it was never my intention to suggest she had. That would be an appalling and misogynistic dismissal of the difficult work she did,” Wilde explained, adding that the scenes in question are from a dramatized perspective.
“The perspective of the fictional dramatization of the story, as I understood it, was that Kathy, and the FBI agent who leaked false information to her, were in a pre-existing romantic relationship, not a transactional exchange of sex for information.”
Olivia Wilde inRichard Jewell.Warner Bros.
“She unfortunately became a piece of the massive puzzle that was responsible for the brutal and unjust vilification of an innocent man, Richard Jewell, and that tragedy is what this film attempts to shed light on.”
“I realize my opinions about Kathy, based on my own independent research, may differ from others involved with the film, but it was important to me to my my own position clear,” Wilde concluded.
Kevin Riley, editor at theAtlanta Journal-Constitutionwhere Scruggs worked, recently told PEOPLE there’s “no evidence” to support the implication.
“We further demand that you add a prominent disclaimer to the film to that effect,”AJCadded, according toVariety.
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Hamm, 48, has also spoken out about the film, encouraging people to see the movie before judging.
“I think that there were certainly suggestions of impropriety with her character, but there are also some suggestions of impropriety with the character that I play and that’s part of the tragedy of this story,” he added.
Scruggs broke the initial story that Jewell — a security guard at Centennial Olympic Park, heralded as a hero for discovering the explosive and alerting police before it detonated — was a suspect in the attack, which killed one and injured over a hundred people.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Eastwood’s drama includes a scene where the fictionalized Scruggs offers to sleep with a federal agent Tom Shaw. After Shaw gives Jewell’s name to Scruggs, he then asks if they should go to a hotel or leave together, reports the outlet. “While they are never actually seen doing so, it is implied that they do sleep together,” statesTHR.
Richard Jewellis in theaters Friday.
source: people.com
