Central Park Five prosecutor Linda Fairstein dropped by publisher after Netflix miniseries sparks firestorm

Linda Fairstein, the Central Park Five prosecutor who has come under fire after a Netflix miniseries refocused the public's attention on the case, has just been dropped by her publisher.

A Dutton spokesperson said on Friday that the publisher has "terminated its relationship" with Fairstein, The Associated Press reports. Fairstein since 1996 has published a series of crime novels, including the recent Blood Oath, which was released by Dutton in March 2019.

The infamous case Fairstein oversaw resulted in the wrongful conviction of five black and latino teenagers for assault and rape in 1990. The convictions of the teenagers, who said their confessions were coerced, were later overturned. In the Netflix miniseries When They See Us, which debuted on May 31 and is directed by Ava DuVernay, Fairstein is played by Felicity Huffman. Viewers outraged by the series quickly launched the hashtag #CancelLindaFairstein, calling for a boycott of her novels.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Since then, Fairstein has resigned from the nonprofit organization Safe Horizon and from Vassar College's board of trustees, with Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley saying that Fairstein "believed that her continuing as a Board member would be harmful to Vassar," NBC News reports. In a resignation letter, The New York Times reports Fairstein called When They See Us "grossly and maliciously inaccurate," criticizing "those embracing the mob mentality that now dominates social media" and labeling DuVernay a "rashly irresponsible filmmaker."