Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. 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. She works as a sports anchor and reporter for AT&T SportsNet Southwest and the sideline reporter for Houston Astros. According to the Columbia article, they also tried to be careful with the wording. Referring to the newspaper by its commonly used nickname, Wood wrote: "I handled Richard Jewell's case against AJC for 16 years. 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. They deflect and distortopting to challenge one assertion in the movie rather than accepting their own role in destroying the life of a good man. With The Good Doctor Losing A Character, How Worried Should Fans Be For The Season 6 Finale? "She had very good contacts with. Carla Gugino plays her in Manhunt: Deadly Games on CBS. He joined the station in September 2021 from KING 5. I have mixed feelings about it. This led to him being scrutinized and ridiculed by the media before he was cleared as a suspect. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution then read the full text of the story to an FBI spokesperson before publication specifically to avoid jeopardizing the investigation. 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. She was never at peace as she was facing possible jail time together with the media blaming her for destroying Jewells life and reputation. Many of her friends and family members claimthe stress from the legal fallout around the Jewell case contributed to her failing health: Jewell sued the AJC, among other outlets, after Scruggs' story pinpointing him as an FBI suspect; all other outlets settled except the AJC. In the film, Kathy is portrayed as a ruthless reporter who is willing to use any means necessary to get a story, even sleeping with an FBI agent, and not showing empathy for the victims after the bombing. She was never at peace as the story continued to get bigger and bigger with everyone crucifying Richard Jewel. The thing she was always proud of was the newspaper stood by her. "Contrary to a swath of recent headlines, I do not believe that Kathy 'traded sex for tips,'" Wilde tweeted. That would be an appalling and misogynistic dismissal of the difficult work she did. 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. Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen write: Witnesses repeatedly came forward to accuse [him] of twisting their words. Scruggs was the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reporter who first wrote about . Here's our special offer. Scoop in hand, she convinces her bosses to run with the story over their concerns. 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. Kathy Scruggs was an American reporter working for Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). Scruggs died of a morphine overdose in 2001. ", 1/ I handled Richard Jewells case against AJC for 16 years. After Richard Jewell was no longer a suspect, his battle continued. And just in time for awards season, can you imagine that. She was the real deal when it came to being a dedicated reporter, her family friend Edward Tolley told the AJC. 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. Perhaps, but its hard to have that discussion when the movie unfairly paints one of the players in it as an unscrupulous news ghoul. 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. The incident took place in Atlanta in 1996, during the Summer Olympics. 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. By the time the case ended, Richard & Ms. Scruggs had both passed away. 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. Its like, well, the names out there. In Cherokee County, Georgia, Mrs. Scruggs has died. The Suspect does*, painting him more as a rogue FBI agent whose leak infuriated his bosses. 6+ Thoughts I Had Watching When Harry Met Sally For The First Time, How Wolf Entertainment's New Cop Drama Will Be Fundamentally Different From Chicago P.D. "He was a suspect at the time she reported that he was. Kathy did not personally apologize to Richard Jewell, However, the story haunted her until her death. 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. 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. And Law And Order. That would be an appalling and misogynistic dismissal of the difficult work she did.". 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.". In the movie, much of the blame for that seems to land on Kathy Scruggs, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). In Eastwood's highly-anticipated film, "Richard Jewell," reporter Kathy Scruggs is depicted as trading sex for stories and information. Powered by. Spent most of my life in various parts of Illinois, including attending college in Evanston. Her mother owned a travel agency. Such a portrayal makes it appear that the AJC sexually exploited its staff and/or that it facilitated or condoned offering sexual gratification to sources in exchange for stories. The Complete Guide to All the Ways Donald Trump Is Legally Screwed. Clint Eastwood slanders reporter Kathy Scruggs in "Richard Jewell," his otherwise powerful and honest film. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. The deputy attorney general called that morning, and said, essentially, Get that woman off the air. True, Jewells lawyers surely got a chunk of that only one of whom, Watson Bryant, appears in the film, played memorably by Sam Rockwell. She hated being lied to or used. The reporters outside his home would even yell and harass Bobi and Richard to try to get a reaction to catch on film. Jewell and other men were able to clear the perimeter enough to minimize the impact. Scruggs was the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reporter who first wrote about Jewell being on the FBIs suspect list. "You always knew when Kathy was in the room," said her former colleagueJohn Gouch. Or at least, one FBI agent in particular fed her the story. And two, that it was accurate, said Alexander. ", In addition to her depiction in Richard Jewell, out in theaters Friday, December 13,her life inspired two fictional characters. 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. That is entirely false and malicious, and it is extremely defamatory and damaging.. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. . Kathy did not personally apologize to Richard Jewell, However, the story haunted her until her death. The second season of "Manhunt: Deadly Games'' takes on the saga of Eric Rudolph and Richard Jewell. Scruggs left the Independent Mail in Anderson after she got into an altercation at a bar, Kiss said. When you reach the Richard Jewell ending, you feel a deeper understanding of him as a human and his friendship with lawyer Watson Bryant. Did kathy scruggs apologize to richard jewell Those who were either directly involved in the incident or were dragged into the subsequent FBI investigation are featured in the show. Kathy Scruggs was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper reporter whose reporting on the Atlanta Olympics bombing has been extremely controversial. She was at least doing the job as it was understood; he was the unscrupulous one. Decades later, how Scruggs is portrayed as a journalist is at the center of controversy that surrounds the film "Richard Jewell." Please consider becominga subscriber. When I'm not writing about pop culture, I can be found channeling Gordon Ramsay by kicking people out the kitchen. Eric Rudolph eventually confessed and pleaded guilty to that bombing and other attacks. It was as much a contributor of her death than anything, her brother Lewis Scruggs Jr. told the AJC. The movie actually does Scruggs worse than that. Should they have known what the unprecedented 24-hour news cycle would do with Jewell? She was never at peace or at rest with this story, said Scruggss former co-worker Tony Kiss. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Getty People have begun to do just that, and the criticism has, if anything, only intensified. The FBI still lists Rudolph on one of its pages about "famous cases and criminals.". Kathy had an elder brother called Lewis Scruggs Jr. who worked in the insurance business. Her friends always believed stress over that story contributed to her failing health. Kathys downfall began when she realized how her story destroyed Richard Jewells life. "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. In hindsight, its easy to cast Scruggs as the villain, but Gugino said its not that simple. Kiss said he is "just appalled" at the film's portrayal of Scruggs, whom he described as hardworking, fearless and a reporter who took pride"in getting the story right.". 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. I never heard any of them, even when they were drinking, say anything negative about her personally or professionally. 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. 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. When Elisabeth Finch met Jennifer Beyer in 2019, the two women forged a fiercely loyal friendship, and eventually got married. 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. 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. Oh, well, its not like he received a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court or anything. But as Beyer would soon realize, Finchs past wasnt what she claimedand Beyers own difficult history was up for the taking. I would encourage people to see the movie and read the story behind it and then come to that conclusion, Hamm told me, referring to The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, The FBI, The Media, And Richard Jewell, The Man Caught In The Middle, by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen, another source for the movie. The Georgia Court of Appeals dismissed the Jewell case against the AJC in 2011. By then, Scruggs had been dead for a decade. I think [Grace] said that there was no presumption of innocence at this time because there wasnt a jury trial, and that was a head-shaker, Alexander says. 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. joyce workman swift river quizlet,

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