Last Call · Ashley Madison · David Adjaye
It's Friday, so what are we watching this weekend?
the true crime that's worth your time
What a weird week. Count me as not a fan of the Tuesday holiday, which basically means we get two Sundays and a break in between. Somehow, having that day off (in the U.S.) made this week feel even longer, and I’m ready to relax with something good.
First, I’ll point you toward Last Call, which debuts on HBO and Max on July 9. I got screeners and watched them all to prepare for an interview I did with the creators for Vanity Fair; I don’t want to double dip so I’ll just say that the filmmakers took Elon Green’s great book on the Last Call homicides and ran with it, creating a series that will likely be referred to as the platonic ideal of how to avoid centering the killer from here forward. It’s a truly inspiring four-part series that builds from Green’s book in such an elegant way that I’m still thinking about it now. If you’re going to watch one thing this weekend, let it be this.
But since I already watched Last Call, I’m all about Hulu’s The Ashley Madison Affair. Way to go from high to low, am I right? The three-parter, which I have yet to dive into, promises the usual scandal-mongering one expects from a show pitched to a largely monogamous audience, but there’s also straight-up crime (which adultery is not!): As you might recall, the site was hacked in 2015, and millions of its users were exposed.
Among them were Josh Duggar, the 19 Kids and Counting scion who, we’d learned just a few years before, allegedly molested his sisters and other women in their social circle as a youth; his appearance on the user list seemed to cement his downfall, but there sure was more, as we all know that he went down for possession of child porn just a few years later.
The company also committed fraud, the FTC claimed, as it admittedly created tens of thousands of fake female profiles to draw in its largely straight, male user base of paid subscribers.
All this sounds like it could be fun to relive, so I’m eager to get into it. I’m sure there’s plenty other true crime to check out this weekend, so I’d love to hear what you have on deck. Share, please! — EB
Like everyone else, we hopped on Threads this week. Sarah and I haven’t decided what we’ll do there — my feeling is that we see how the platform evolves and follow that lead. You can find us there (or on Instagram) as bestevidencefyi. — EB
Hearsay
Sir David Adjaye: the celebrated architect accused of sexual misconduct [Financial Times]
The FT’s paywall can be a fickle and inconsistent one, but it seems like this report on allegations against star architect David Adjaye is visible to all. And I’m glad, because I’m frustrated with how it’s written in parts — I don’t know if this is a case of too many editorial revisions, a difference in style from US to UK writing about these types of cases, or what.
Primary in my complaint is that readers are hit with graf upon graf of Adjaye’s achievements and accolades before, waaaay down in the piece, we get to the meat of the accusations. Whether intentional or not, structuring the report that way means we’re tired out by the time we get to the claims, and less likely to evaluate them accurately. Even more bizarre, it gives us Adjaye’s quoted response to the allegations before the details of the allegations themselves. Imagine writing about another type of alleged crime — say, a homicide — with that structure.
Finally, there are weird claims left dangling without follow-up. One example is this sentence about the alleged victims, who reportedly shared their experiences with one another: “But while the three women are now represented by an organisation that specialises in human rights and whistleblowing, they have also had fractious relationships with each other.” Interesting, right? What’s this organization? What’s their beef with one another? Who knows, as the story never follows up on either detail.
Anyway, this is the section where we’re supposed to be referring you to things worth reading, and I’ve turned it into a bit on why I don’t like this piece. I’m hopeful some of you might read it and give me your own assessment, feel free to tell me I’m being a crank. — EB
Texas Monthly Expands Into Feature Docs With West Texas-Set Exoneration Pic From Deborah Esquenazi [Deadline]
The venerable mag’s first ever feature documentary will be about “James Reyos, a gay Apache man who for 40 years has sought to clear his name of the brutal murder of a Catholic priest in oil-rich West Texas. Embedding with the Innocence Project of Texas that has taken up Reyos’ case, Esquenazi with her doc sheds new light on a story that has eluded detectives, crime researchers and amateur sleuths for four decades, exposing a web of media lore and homophobia, as well as whispers of a possible serial killing team targeting clergy in the 1980s.” I’m excited already. — EB
A ‘Ted Bundy Copycat’ Accused of Killing Mexican Women Was Just Arrested [Vice]
Downey, CA resident Bryant Rivera was arrested on July 6, about seven months after Baja California Attorney General Iván Carpio Sánchez said he had “violent and psychopathic behavior” and compared him to Ted Bundy, claiming as he did that Rivera had killed at least three women. — EB
Next week on Best Evidence: Adultery, fabulism, and Eric Adams.
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