Brett Kavanaugh · Meryl Streep · Mario Batali
Is that our most random subject line yet? y/n?
the true crime that's worth your time
Hello weekend! I have travel and other nonsense lined up this weekend so my true-crime viewing and listening will be sadly curtailed. But next on my list is Netflix’s The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, the Eve of a couple weeks ago would be surprised to hear.
That Eve was put off by the way the streamer presented the doc, from the click-baity title to the images it fed me as part of its recommendations algorithm to its relationship to a long-stale viral video. But enough of you have recommended it that I’m am intrigued enough to present it as an option here.
For those of you who’ve forgotten what videos were making the rounds in Ye Olde 2013, here’s the original interview with Caleb Lawrence McGillvary that provides the arguable interest hook for the doc:
As Wikipedia helpfully reminds us, McGillvary’s broadcast interview, in which he claimed he saved a woman from a potential rapist with a hatchet attack, brought him national attention in 2013 — but shortly after its splash, he was arrested in connection with a different case, and was eventually convicted of murder.
My Central Jersey (which has a sketchball website name, but is actually a Gannett outlet that provides consolidated reporting for a number of regions previously served by local papers — support journalism, folks!) has a solid recap of the events of the case, and also directs us to the Official Kai the Hitchhiker Support Group Facebook page, which is really something. So I’m thinking that when I finally have some downtime, I’ll watch the doc and second-screen it with the FB page, for maximum impact.
So that’s my eventual plan — if not this weekend, then soon — but what about you? What true crime are you planning on reading, listening to, or watching this weekend? Sharing is caring. — EB
Someone saw this week’s thread and sent me a special gift. At least, that’s what I imagined when I saw the headlines yesterday about director Doug Liman — the man behind one of my favorite movies, Edge of Tomorrow — whose until-now-under-wraps, first-ever documentary about Supreme Court justice/avowed beer lover/credibly accused alleged rapist Brett Kavanaugh will screen today at the Sundance film festival.
As reported by the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, Liman’s doc, called Justice, “dives into the 2018 hearings and government investigation into now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.” From a press release, Liman says this:
“It shouldn’t be this hard to have an open and honest conversation about whether or not a Justice on the Supreme Court assaulted numerous women as a young man,” said Liman in a statement. “Thanks to this fantastic investigative team and the brave souls who trusted us with their stories, Justice picks up where the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh fell woefully short.”
Liman added: “The film examines our judicial process and the institutions behind it, highlighting bureaucratic missteps and political powergrabs that continue to have an outsized impact on our nation today. Sundance gave me and countless other independent filmmakers our big breaks, so it’s especially meaningful for me to return with my first documentary.”
In a follow-up interview with THR, Liman explains how the previously-unknown project came to be — as it turns out, the longtime director has deep ties to the judicial system:
His father Arthur L. Liman was a revered lawyer and activist who helped lead investigations into the Iran-contra affair and the Attica prison uprising, among other notable cases. Liman’s older brother, Lewis, is a longtime lawyer and now a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, who once clerked for the Supreme Court. Lewis Liman eventually tried a case in front of the Supreme Court, with his filmmaker brother and other family members flying into Washington to attend. Says Liman, “Even though I’m not a lawyer, I’ve held the court in a kind of reverence that’s very personal.”
One of the doc’s backers is veteran documentarian Liz Garbus, a college friend of Liman’s. “What Doug and Amy [Herdy, Liman’s producing partner on the project and the producer of Allen v. Farrow, among others] were getting to was a lot of new information, and also a stunning look at the absence of diligence for one of the most important jobs in our country.”
An interesting thing to note is that the doc is totally self-financed:
“If you want to know who put the money up for the movie, look no further than me,” says Liman. But had he considered getting outside funding? “Whoever I went to to put money into the movie, suddenly their motives might be suspect or might color how people view the movie,” he says, adding emphatically, “I don’t have a political ax to grind.”
That said, Herdy isn’t fucking around when it comes to Kavanaugh’s alleged guilt. “I believe that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, and I believe that the new evidence that this film has shows that he sexually assaulted at least two other women,” Herdy said. “And the graphic details are heartbreaking. It points to a pattern.”
As of yet, the documentary doesn’t have a plan for distribution, but expect that to change soon — maybe even by the time you’re reading this issue. As eager as I am to see the film, I’m even more eager to see if anyone in power will pick up the ball it lobs — as folks did with R. Kelly, for example — to ensure that justice is found for everyone involved in the case. — EB
As I so like to do, an end-of-week roundup of cases we’ve been following. — EB
Alec Baldwin Will Be Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in Rust Shooting [Vanity Fair]
”Alec Baldwin and prop armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed will both be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western drama Rust. After a more than year-long investigation into the October 21 incident, Santa Fe County district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced the charges Thursday.”
Union SAG-AFTRA has already responded, saying Hutchins’s death was “not a failure of duty or a criminal act on the part of any performer,” but speaking with CNN, Carmack-Altwies said that “Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure that if they’re going to handle that gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger, that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone.” In a different conversation with the LA Times, she said that “we wrestled with charging anyone … This is a very complicated case [and] there were three people that we believe were potentially culpable for firing the weapon.”
Kevin Spacey Honored at Italy’s National Museum of Cinema in First Event Since Sexual Assault Charges [The Hollywood Reporter]
“Tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback,” said Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary to the Italian Ministry of Culture, at the event. Meanwhile Spacey, who’s been credibly accused of multiple incidents of sexual misconduct and assault, praised the Turin Museum of Cinema for having “the courage, the balls, to invite me.”
As New York Suspends Time Constraints On Sexual Abuse Claims, a Wave of Lawsuits Arrive In Courts [The Hollywood Reporter]
New York’s Adult Survivors Act “effectively suspends time constraints on claims involving sex offenses for a one year period that began on Nov. 24.,” so expect a wave of long-ago cases to hit the headlines. And, perhaps, some prominent company names, too, as “The ASA also includes a provision that allows for claims against employers if the incident involved the workplace.”
'Rick and Morty' co-creator Justin Roiland faces felony domestic violence charges [NBC]
Roiland appeared in court Thursday regarding an alleged domestic violence incident in 2020, the details of which remain sealed. He faces “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit.” Unconfirmed-as-of-send-time online chatter following that news made even more serious allegations against Roiland, and in a subsequent article that does not directly address the online rumors The Hollywood Reporter cocks a brow at his “TV Partners,” writing that Adult Swim, Hulu and 20th TV have remained silent as claims against Roiland continue to gain traction.
Mario Batali Is Investing in Restaurants Again [Eater NY]
Special love for my former homies at Eater today, as parent company Vox Media has abruptly announced yet another round of layoffs that I fear will hit my friends. Batali, who has faced numerous allegations of sexual harassment, rape, and general toxic male shittiness, “is listed as an applicant for Common Good Bakery, a two-location business located in Traverse City, Michigan. Jason Gollan, who founded the bakery with his wife Linda Gollan, confirmed Batali’s involvement, referring to the chef as ‘an owner, a minority investor, a neighbor, and a friend.’”
From the Common Good website: “Our purpose is to better the lives of everyone we encounter. We believe that optimism and purposeful action should be a part of everything we do. Yes, we make killer bread and pastries, but we also aspire to be a leading positive influence within the communities we serve.” So far its escaped the wrath of Yelp, with only one review decrying the relationship thus far.
Finally, some sweet news to send you off…Via Instagram, Only Murders in the Building star Selena Gomez announced that Meryl Streep will join the blue-chip cast of the true-crime-adjacent show. I think this is a good thing!
I’m hopeful Streep will have a significant role as opposed to a Sting or Schumer-level cameo, and it’s worth noting that she’s no stranger to fellow OMITB cast member Shirley MacLaine — she played MacLaine’s daughter in 1990’s adaptation of Carrie Fisher’s quasi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge. Perhaps Rose Cooper has some secret progeny with an until-unknown family relationship with Charles?
Typically, I’d be loath to speculate like that, but after my earlier musings manifested Justice (which it did! Shut up!), I’m going for it today. — EB
Next week on Best Evidence: Delvey fatigue and Korean true crime cases.
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