00:00Hi, welcome back to my channel.
00:02In this video, I will explain the true story of May December.
00:04So, let's begin.
00:06Todd Haynes' exceptionally chilling new drama May December is based on an even more controversial
00:10real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau.
00:13May December offers a thoughtful albeit haunting portrayal of Letourneau's true affair with
00:16Philly Follow, who was 12 years old when Letourneau initiated their sexual relationship.
00:22Letourneau would make national headlines in the late 1990s after being convicted as a
00:25sex offender who served years in prison before continuing her May-December relationship with
00:29Follow after her release.
00:32The shocking true story of Mary Kay Letourneau and Philly Follow begins in the summer of
00:361996.
00:37Mary Kay was the 2nd grade and 6th grade teacher of Philly and instigated a sexual relationship
00:42with Philly the summer before he was going into 7th grade.
00:46The two were initially found together in a car by police in Burien, Washington, where
00:49Mary Kay taught Philly.
00:51According to police reports, Mary Kay had jumped from the back seat to the front once
00:55she realized that police had approached the car while Philly pretended to be asleep in
00:59the back.
01:00Philly and Mary Kay both provided false identification, including Philly claiming that he was 18 years
01:04old.
01:06Mary Kay Letourneau was arrested on March 4, 1997, and was eventually convicted of second-degree
01:11child rape after pleading guilty on two counts.
01:14Despite prosecutors seeking an initial sentencing of six and a half years, Mary Kay's attorney
01:18had arraigned a plea agreement that only put her behind county jar bars for three months.
01:22Letourneau was also required to complete three years of a sex offender rehabilitation program
01:26and as a result, she would not have to register as a sex offender.
01:30Remarkably, Mary Kay broke her agreement by seeing Philly Folau just two weeks after she
01:35was released from her three-month jail sentence.
01:37Mary Kay Letourneau gave birth to Philly Folau's daughter while awaiting sentencing.
01:42Before going to jail, Mary Kay Letourneau gave birth to her first child with Philly,
01:46named Audrey, in May 1997 as she was awaiting her prison sentence.
01:50Mary Kay made international headlines during the time and, as a result, her mental health
01:54was reported to have taken a toll.
01:57It was later discovered by police that Mary Kay had visited Philly on several occasions
02:01after she was released from her first prison sentence.
02:04She was discovered once again with Philly in a car and was arrested at the scene.
02:09Police confiscated thousands of dollars, a passport, and baby clothes from the vehicle.
02:14Letourneau was imprisoned from 1998 to 2004, during which time she had another child with
02:19Folau.
02:20Mary Kay Letourneau was put before a judge once again in 1998 who revoked the terms of
02:24her previous plea agreement and gave her the maximum sentence of seven and a half years.
02:29She began her prison sentence in 1998 and gave birth to her second child with Philly,
02:33named Georgia, while being incarcerated that same year.
02:37This indicates that Philly Folau had impregnated her once again during the brief window when
02:40they met immediately following her three-month period in county jail.
02:44Letourneau served the entirety of her maximum prison sentence at the Washington Correction
02:48Center for Women in Gig Harbor, Washington.
02:51Due to all the attention from the international press that Letourneau received during her
02:54trials, she authored two books while she was incarcerated.
02:58One book, titled Only One Crime, Loves was published only in France in 1998.
03:03A second book was published in 1999 in the United States titled If Loving You Is Wrong,
03:08but had very little influence from Mary Kay Letourneau and Philly Folau.
03:12Letourneau spent several months in solitary confinement after the Washington Correction
03:15Center for Women intercepted letters that she had intended to send to Folau, an indication
03:20of her relentless and self-destructive determination to connect with the then 14-year-old.
03:25Letourneau and Folau married in 2005 before separating in 2019.
03:30After completing her prison sentence in 2004, Mary Kay Letourneau and Philly Folau got married
03:34in 2005.
03:36Letourneau was given a sentencing of lifetime sex offender upon her release, but that had
03:40no effect on the determination for her and Folau to be together.
03:44At 21 years old, Folau convinced the courts to terminate the no-contact order they had
03:48placed between him and Mary Kay which allowed the two to get married.
03:52While Mary Kay was in prison, Philly dropped out of high school and took care of Audrey
03:55and Georgia, all while reportedly suffering from mental health issues including depression.
04:00Mary Kay Letourneau and Philly Folau remained married for 12 years before Folau filed for
04:04legal separation from Letourneau in 2017, later revoking the filing.
04:09The two officially divorced in August 2019 for undisclosed reasons.
04:14Throughout the relationship, Philly had always claimed to be very happy and in love with
04:17Mary Kay and did not realize the strange and unhealthy dynamic between them until much
04:21later in life.
04:23Still, Philly contended as recently as 2020 that he was not a victim in the relationship
04:27and was not ashamed of his love for Mary Kay, via people.
04:31Mary Kay Letourneau died in 2020 at the age of 58 from colorectal cancer.
04:36She left most of her estate to Folau even after their legal separation.
04:40Letourneau's controversial story was chronicled in A&E's television movie All-American Girl,
04:45the Mary Kay Letourneau story in 2000 but has been widely left alone in film and television
04:49until Haines' 2023 entry May-December.
04:52With such a perturbing yet naturally fascinating subject, the Oscar-nominated director of Carol,
04:56Far From Heaven, and Safe, which also starred Julianne Moore, has many creative avenues
05:01and opportunities to explore in the upcoming Netflix film.
05:04That's all for now folks.
05:05I would appreciate it if you could give the video a super thanks with a thumbs up and
05:08subscribe to the channel so you can see more content like this every day, take care, bye!
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