Central Park Five Prosecutor Steps Down From Boards Amid Netflix Series Controversy | THR News - video Dailymotion

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Former "Central Park Five" prosecutor Linda Fairstein has resigned from multiple boards after the release of Ava DuVernay's Netflix miniseries 'When They See Us,' which has ignited new controversy over Fairstein's role in the case.

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00:00Former Central Park 5 prosecutor Linda Fairstein has resigned from multiple boards

00:05following the release of Ava DuVernay's Netflix miniseries When They See Us

00:09and hashtag CancelLindaFairstein trending on Twitter.

00:13On Tuesday, Fairstein stepped down from the boards of the nonprofit Safe Horizon and Vassar College.

00:18She also reportedly resigned from the boards for God's Love We Deliver and the Joyful Heart Foundation.

00:24When They See Us portrays Fairstein, played by Felicity Huffman,

00:27when she ran the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

00:31In 1989, the prosecutor oversaw the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of five Black and Latino teenagers

00:38— Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Corey Weiss and Youssef Salaam —

00:44after a white woman was attacked while jogging in Central Park.

00:47In 2002, after spending over a decade in prison, the former teenagers were exonerated when the real culprit confessed to the crime.

00:55In an announcement, Vassar College President Elizabeth H. Bradley wrote,

00:59I am told that Ms. Fairstein felt that given the recent widespread debate over her role in the Central Park case,

01:04she believed that her continuing as a board member would be harmful to Vassar.

01:08And in a letter obtained by the New York Post, Fairstein wrote to Safe Horizon,

01:12I do not want to become a lightning rod to inflict damage on this organization because of those now

01:17attacking my record of fighting for social justice for more than 45 years, adding that the series

01:22depicts me in a fictionalized version of events in a grossly and maliciously inaccurate manner.

01:26But this isn't the first time Fairstein has faced backlash for her role in the case.

01:30Last year, after it was announced that she was to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award

01:35at the Edgars, an award ceremony for mystery novelists, Outcry prompted the honor to be revoked.

01:41For more on the controversy surrounding When They See Us, head to THR.com.

01:45And until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Jordyn Rolling.

Central Park Five Prosecutor Steps Down From Boards Amid Netflix Series Controversy | THR News

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