A war of words has erupted between the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Warner Bros. over “Richard Jewell,” a new Clint Eastwood-directed film that depicts the newspaper’s reporting after a bomb exploded at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the New York Times reports. The movie, which opens Friday, tells the story of how security guard Richard Jewell was wrongly suspected of planting the bomb, including the apparently fabricated detail of a reporter’s offer of sex with a federal agent in exchange for a scoop. The Journal-Constitution and its parent Cox Enterprises sent the studio and Eastwood a letter threatening legal action unless a disclaimer in the film and a public statement by the studio acknowledged that “some events were imagined for dramatic purposes.” “It is highly ironic that a film purporting to tell a tragic story of how the reputation of an FBI suspect was grievously tarnished appears bent on a path to severely tarnish” the newspaper’s reputation, it said.
Warner Bros. struck back,saying, “It is unfortunate and the ultimate irony that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, having been a part of the rush to judgment of Richard Jewell, is now trying to malign our filmmakers and cast. ‘Richard Jewell’ focuses on the real victim, seeks to tell his story, confirm his innocence and restore his name.” A disclaimer at the film’s end says it was “based on actual historical events.” It adds, “Dialogue and certain events and characters … were created for the purposes of dramatization.” The 1996 bombing killed one person and wounded dozens. At issue is the film’s depiction of how the Journal-Constitution broke the news that the FBI’s initial lead suspect was Jewell, who discovered the bomb. While Jewell was the suspect, there was never enough evidence to charge him. He was cleared, and another man confessed.