For example, Jewells mothers apartment really did prominently display a portrait of Jewell in his Habersham County deputys uniform, the Vanity Fair article reported. In the movie, Tom Shaw and Dan Bennett are the names given to the FBI agents relentlessly pursuing the former hero security guard turned suspect in the Atlanta bombing at the Olympics. While Scruggs did break that story based on an FBI tip, theres no evidence she ever traded sex for stories. Soon, Jewell was a reviled national laughingstock. The Los Angeles Times reports that Bryant and the Jewells remained close; for a time, Bobi even babysat for the lawyers two children., Bryant told the Times: These bums [in the FBI] never had enough to arrest him they had nothing but a bunch of BS taken out of context that they used to frame him up for a story that was too good to be true. The FBI didnt learn from its disastrous Richard Jewell mistake And when the regime in Washington legalized, sanctioned and legitimized this practice, they forfeited their legitimacy and moral authority to govern, it says in part. In 2019, Hauser had his breakout performance as The real culprit, whose misguided intervention and stubbornness led to the Richard Jewell debacle, was Louis Freeh, then the FBI director. You have reached your limit of free articles. During a Jack Mack and the Heart Attack performance, Jewell and other security guards began clearing the immediate area so that a bomb squad could investigate the suspicious package. Jewells story is chronicled and perhaps a bit dramatized in Richard Jewell, Clint Eastwoods latest directorial work, now in theaters. According to Brenner, the two had met 10 years earlier, when Jewell worked in the mailroom at Bryants office. That case was eventually dismissed by the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2011, after the bench concluded that the papers reporting had been substantially true when it went to print. All of a sudden, Jewell was the mistaken villain, forced to endure unfathomable media and law-enforcement scrutiny, as well as rampant media speculation that he may have committed the very crime he had so bravely attempted to thwart. It was described as a crude pipe bomb.. The Ballad of Richard Jewell. The story would change everything for Richard A. Jewell, the security guard in question even long after his name was cleared. It would take time for officials to track down the right one: Eric Robert Rudolph, an anti-abortion militant who, in 1998, was linked to other bombings, but evaded police for years. Kathleen Scruggs died as a result of acute morphine toxicity, the report says. The FBI had him under 24-hour surveillance. Richard Jewell's mother says movie was '200 percent' accurate, "Hero for a Moment: The Richard Jewell Story". It says that there was debate in the newsroom over the story and CNN had already decided to hold it. [10], A Justice Department investigation of the FBI's conduct found the FBI had tried to manipulate Jewell into waiving his constitutional rights by telling him he was taking part in a training film about bomb detection, although the report concluded "no intentional violation of Mr. Jewell's civil rights and no criminal misconduct" had taken place. In the headline of his Times obituary, Jewell was remembered how people knew him in those first days after the explosion: Hero of Atlanta Attack., How the Investigation Into Richard Jewell Unfolded, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/movies/richard-jewell-bombing-atlanta.html. After his ordeal, Jewell sued or threatened to sue ABC, CNN, NBC, the New York Post and the AJC/Cox for defamation, as well as his former employer, Piedmont College, which he said gave false information about him to newspapers and the FBI. She broke the story that security guard Jewell at that point a hero for saving countless lives in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was in fact the FBIs lead suspect in the case. The young, jolly revelers, many waving cups of beer, didnt take directions very well, reported the 1996 TIME cover story on the bombing. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The True Story Behind the Movie Richard Jewell | Time [33], Jewell filed suit against his former employer Piedmont College, its president Raymond Cleere, and college spokesman Scott Rawles. GettyThe crime scene at the Atlanta Olympics. That self-justified sense of virtue isnt just the driving motive of the Richard Jewells action; its an attitude that suffuses the filmmaking project itself. This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 15:34. Paul Walter Hauser, left, with director Clint Eastwood during the filming of Richard Jewell., Olivia Wilde plays the late Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs in Richard Jewell.. The law caught up with Rudolph in 2003. Poynter.org wrote that There is no evidence that Scruggs slept with anyone to get the story. An anti-government extremist, Rudolph was convicted of perpetrating the bombing at the Atlanta Olympics. The 1997 article in Vanity Fair on the Richard Jewell case gives extensive details on the effect on Bobi at the time. And, most of all, he wants to be a police officer.. Go to Fox Nationto start a free trial and watch the extensive library from Tomi Lahren, Pete Hegseth, Abby Hornacek, Laura Ingraham, Ainsley Earhardt, Greg Gutfeld, Judge Andrew Napolitano and many more of your favorite Fox News personalities. He discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs on the park grounds[1] and helped evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. The letter did not include an apology, but in a separate statement issued by Alexander, the U.S. Justice Department regretted the leaking of the investigation. In an apartment complex overlooking his building, four stations ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC paid a tenant $1,000 a day to set up a command post in her unit. Scruggs newspaper has defended its reporting as accurately reflecting the state of the FBIs investigation at the time; the FBI was investigating Jewell in the bombing, although he was completely exonerated. "[3][18][19], Jewell worked in various law enforcement jobs, including as a police officer in Pendergrass, Georgia. All rights reserved. Jon Hamm as Tom Shaw, left, Ian Gomez as Dan Bennet and Paul Walter Hauser as Richard Jewell in Clint Eastwoods newest film. In fact, she spoke to Paul Walter Hauser, the actor who plays Richard, before the movie was completed. Anyone can read what you share. Such a portrayal makes it appear that the AJC sexually exploited its staff and/or that it facilitated or condoned offering sexual gratification to sources in exchange for stories. Richard Jewell No character in Richard Jewell more thoroughly embodies the films view of an amoral, mercenary media than Kathy Scruggs, the cackling, trash-talking crime reporter who breaks the story on the FBIs Jewell probe after (as the movie strongly implies) offering a liaison with Hamms Agent Shaw. And I dont think Im as outgoing as I used to be.. Richard Jewell's mother Bobi and his attorney Watson Bryant react to the true story of the 1996 Olympic bombing being told on the big screen. He was a suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing, and is now the subject of Clint Eastwoods new film. According to Bobi, who is now 83 years old, the movie is "200 percent accurate.". [20], Jewell married Dana Jewell in 1998; they remained married until his death. On August 7, 1996, the AP was reporting that Bryant had declared, Enough is enough. Thats a federal prison in Colorado. The four were accused of poor judgment but not criminal wrongdoing. In fact, the biggest changes Manhunt made was not with the Jewell story but with that of Rudolph, who eventually went to prison for the crime after spending five years hiding out in the mountains. In real life, it took many more years and a good deal more police work to bring the real bomber to justice. She once beat the police to a murder scene and brazenly crawled in through a back window., Where have you been? she demanded to police, Monroe wrote, adding, She was blonde and wore mini skirts and gaudy stockings. agent in exchange for it. The mayor was exonerated eventually but argued that the scrutiny cost him a federal judicial appointment, according to Vanity Fair. The first time I met Bobi Jewell was on the Warner Bros. lot, he told THR. Rockwell, playing Jewells longtime friend and lawyer, is the most consistently entertaining performer in the film through his relaxed charm and quips. "[25] In one article, the Journal-Constitution compared Jewell's case to that of serial killer Wayne Williams. An Associated Press story in the Scranton Times-Tribune, dated August 6, 1996, describes how Bryant explained to the news media that bombing fragments found in Jewells apartment were souvenirs. Jewell. The app was glorifying and normalizing suicide, she says. A special edition of The Atlanta Journal hit newsstands on July 30, 1996, a pivotal headline splashed across the front page: F.B.I. Market data provided by Factset. [23], After he was dropped as a suspect, Jewell filed libel suits against NBC News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNN, the New York Post, and Piedmont College. This weeks newsletter covers the premiere of Clint Eastwoods Richard Jewell, the Spirit Award nominations and all the great movies women directed this year. They would yell, Did he do it? Those who knew her hotly deny it. [32] He eventually settled with the newspaper for an undisclosed amount. The representation of a real person in this manner is troubling, especially since Scruggs portrayal in the film is cartoonish compared to the rest of the films performances. She called the shots as they were, be it good or bad. WebRichard Jewells Heroism Was Real & a Witness Said Immediately That He Didnt Think Jewell Had Time to Perpetrate the Bombing & Make the Phone Call Attributed to the Suspects Hero Guard May Have Planted Bomb.. A 2003 article in the New York Daily News reported that Jewell later worked for other departments in Georgia towns and got married. Rudolph began his violent attacks on July 27, 1996, when he planted a backpack containing a bomb in crowded Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia., According to the FBI, a woman who traveled with her daughter to watch the 1996 Summer Olympics was killed and more than 100 others were injured in the blast. The AP story says that Jewell was credited with spotting an unattended olive-drab knapsack near the AT&T pavilion. Small details in the movie are also accurate. The movies account of the actual explosion, and Jewells role in discovering the suspicious knapsack containing the bomb closely follows real-life events. There is an actor who plays Rosario in the movie, but thats not the Tom Shaw or Dan Bennett character, according to the IMDB cast list for the Eastwood film. In 1997, its true as the movie shows, that Jewell landed a job as a police officer with Luthersville, a small town hear Atlanta. Warner Bros. told Deadline on Monday that those claims are baseless. A studio source confirmed to the trade outlet that a disclaimer has always been at the end of the film. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. After the bombing, the security guard had a moment in the spotlight, appearing on CNN and landing a Today Show interview with Katie Couric. AT&T had hired Jewell and others through a security firm to keep an eye on its five-story sound and light tower in Centennial Olympic Park. GettyRichard Jewell (C) his mother Barbara (L) and attorneys Watson Bryant (R) and Wayne Grant (far R) look on during a press conference 28 October in Atlanta, Ga. Jewell was cleared as a suspect in the July 27 bombing of Centennial Olympic Park. She was really tough and hard-nosed. Richard Jewell Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life Sam Rockwell, left, with Kathy Bates and Paul Walter Hauser in a scene from Richard Jewell., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Newsletter: Clint Eastwood is 89 and still making good movies, like Richard Jewell, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to that bombing, Roman Polanski and the woman he pleaded guilty to raping pose together 45 years later, Andrea Riseborough flap prompts most significant Oscar campaign rules change in decades, Looking for fun this Cinco de Mayo weekend? In the frenzy to find the perpetrator, an innocent man became a suspect. He obtained settlements from CNN and NBC after suing them. Scruggs, played by Olivia Wilde, is depicted as a wildly unethical journalist who offers to trade sex for information from an FBI agent portrayed by Jon Hamm. What is true, though, is that authorities in the FBI did aggressively pursue Jewell. In 1998, the New York Times reported that Jewells lawyer Watson Bryant filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jewells mother against the FBI. For those looking to separate fact from creative license, heres the true story behind Richard Jewell. And Richard Jewell himself said some odd things - like, he asked if a tower would withstand a blast in the park - not the tower he was guarding, but another one. Jewells moms Tupperware really was confiscated by the FBI, for example, and he really did land a job at a local police department after being cleared. "Mom," said Richard turning to Bobi, his voice cracking with emotion. Even some of the tiny details in the movie are based on real life. The Times had learned from its own sad transgressions over the years that whispered accusations against named individuals must not be trusted.. Reference is made to the unjust allegations against Richard Jewell based on a psychological profile in the television series Criminal Minds (season 3, episode 1). Actor Olivia Wilde also defended her character in the same publication. Did he blow those people up? They would yell, You should both die. All she was trying to do was walk her dog.. When he pleaded guilty, a defiant Rudolph said he had no remorse or regrets, the FBI wrote. Tom Shaw and Dan Bennett appear to be loosely based on Don Johnson and Diader Rosario but are also composite characters, and some of it is completely fictionalized. Eventually, domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph was identified by the FBI as the attacker. The culprit, Eric Robert Rudolph, wasnt captured until 2003, after evading the FBI for five years and perpetrating three other bombings. Its supposed to be a time of joy for the world, and its a very, very bad thing.. In 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to that bombing and three others. WebNearly 25 years after she lived through "88 days of hell," Bobi Jewell's emotions seem just as raw as they were when her son, Richard Jewell, was first identified as the main Richard Jewell didnt do it. A Turkish cameraman also died from a heart attack while rushing to the scene. Tragic Details About Richard Jewell - Grunge Scruggs obituary in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution explained that she had suffered a variety of health problems for the past year., I would characterize her as a very good reporter who was very fair, Atlanta Police Chief Beverly Harvard told the newspaper. My apartment was bugged," Bobi Jewell said on Fox and Friends. It would be so easy to play Kathy as a love interest, as something less than the competent reporter she was. He has training. WebRichard Jewell was never officially charged with any crimes, but he spent 88 days being under investigation as the person responsible for the 1996 bombs in Centennial Park. You can learn more about her cause of death here. The Justice Department admitted some fault in how federal agents handled the investigation into Jewell specifically an early interview in which officials intentionally misled Jewell to ask him questions about the bombing. Richard Jewell But thats not the only view of what happened. He discovered the bag and alerted Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers. Kathy may be gone, but she is still a vibrant part of our family and we love her very much., In a book on the case called The Suspect, Scruggs is described as a delightful throwback to the 1930s newspaper wars. Jewell died in 2007 at age 44. "[26] Even though NBC stood by its story, the network agreed to pay Jewell $500,000. Fox Nation's"Hero for a Moment" also detailed how the FBI settled onJewell as their primary suspect and what happened when an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporterbroke the story. Farnsworth, Elizabeth (October 28, 1996). Richard Jewell would have been excited but humbled at the Wednesday ceremony honoring him and members of law enforcement at Centennial Olympic Park, his widow said. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Together, they helped clear 75 to 100 people away from the area, the agent told The Times. By Cassandra Roshu, Griffin Brown, Isabella Flores, Joe Zhao, Maxine Brackbill, Megan Jonas, Meghan Hendricks, Solange Jain, By Arnav Pokhrel, Braden Kletz, Jacob Halsema, Joe Zhao, Maxine Brackbill, Meghan Hendricks. WebJewell was initially hailed as a hero, but days later he was identified as the FBI's prime suspect and became the focus of a furious media feeding frenzy. Richard Jewell's lawyer agrees the movie smeared Atlanta He wore a baseball cap, khaki shorts, and a frayed Brooks Brothers polo shirt. Beth Mead: My game in my words - The Athletic He feels the stares of strangers in restaurants, The Timess correspondent Kevin Sack wrote one year after the bombing, knowing they still wonder if he is the one.. She died in 2001 at the age of 42 from an overdose of prescription pain pills for a chronic back problem., Riley said in a statement to IndieWire that there is no evidence that this ever happened.. I feel for the victims and their families and, I mean, its the Olympics. The source material for Richard Jewell is wonderfully rich. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital She spent all the money she had and more and would go into the depths of depression., The headline on the original story was, FBI suspects hero guard may have planted bomb.. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution didnt settle and eventually prevailed before an appellate court, which ruled that what the paper reported was substantially true at the time because it was true the FBI was focusing on Jewell. !, Doug Monroe, who knew and worked with Scruggs, described her in a 2003 article in Atlanta Magazine as having a raucous sense of humor. He wrote: Cops still talk in amazement about her bravado. The progress was slow. Fox Nationprograms are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers. Her daughter was also injured. "Kathy Scruggs was the one who broke the story about Richard Jewell," said Lyda Longa, who was a police reporter for the newspaper during the 1996 games. His libel suit against the company that owned The Journal lingered in the courts for years before the final claim was dismissed. For the next several weeks, the news media focused aggressively on him as the presumed culprit, labeling him a "person of interest". It says that the FBI searched Bobis underwear and her Tupperware containers. Today, she is not here to tell her side of the story, played on screen by Olivia Wilde. Tom Shaw and Dan Bennett are not real. WebJewell is slow to realize the FBIs increasingly serious inquiry, but Hauser captures Jewells growing disillusionment with subtlety, as he finally begins to doubt the very things he In real life, though, Bryant didnt work alone for long. Fran Kirby plays Mead into space on the edge of the 18-yard box and she pushes forward to go one-on-one against Blackstad. [36] The film was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood. [10], Richard Jewell, a biographical drama film, was released in the United States on December 13, 2019. The Richard Jewell ControversyAnd the Complicated Truth Get our L.A. Meanwhile, Kathy Scruggs, a police reporter, who had allegedly gotten a tip from a close friend in the F.B.I., got a confirmation from someone in the Atlanta police, Vanity Fair reported. She is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia. the day of the explosion with concerns that Jewell was overly zealous., If The Timess reporting showed restraint, focusing more on the local frenzy than the man himself, it was thanks to hard-won lessons in sourcing, Max Frankel wrote in the papers magazine. Leading up to Richard Jewells release, controversy has erupted over perspectives seemingly deprioritized in the films telling, especially in its portrayal of real-life journalist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) as a man-eating, less-than-ethical scoop artist. Kathy Scruggs was born on September 26, 1958 and died September 2, 2001, age 42, in Cherokee County, Georgia. Richard Allensworth Jewell (born Richard White;[1] December 17, 1962 August 29, 2007) was an American security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Underwritten and at times slow, the film features a depiction of one of the main characters that is so rabidly villainous it makes the entire film suffer. [43], The 2020 season two of the crime drama anthology series Manhunt, also called Manhunt: Deadly Games, centers on the story of the Centennial Park bombing and the other bombs planted by Eric Robert Rudolph. A person who always wanted to be a cop, Jewell saves hundreds of lives by identifying a bomb at Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympic celebrations. Scruggs died five years after the controversy. In Clint Eastwoods Richard Jewell, righteousness is the name of the game. Yet he was never charged. GettyThis dawn 27 July photo shows the five-story sound tower (L) in the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Park where a bomb exploded early 27 July during a rock concert. Getty/FindaGraveKathy Scruggs cause of death is a sad one. Its time to stop being nice. He explained that the FBI agents wanted Jewell to read the bombers statement from the call 12 different times.. It haunted her until her last breath, Scruggs friend and former coworker Tony Kiss told the AJC. At issue is the films portrayal of the late reporter Kathy Scruggs. Watson Bryant told the AP in a July 30, 1996 article about the FBI search of Jewells moms apartment: Quite frankly, we welcome this. He predicted nothing would be found. Bobi Jewell told "Fox and Friends" co-hosts Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt on Monday. Many scenes of characters having regular conversations drag on longer than necessary. Published on December 16, 2019 at 3:49 pm, On Saturday, six speakers came to SU as part of the TEDxSyracuseUniversity series, discussing topics such as identity and perseverance. The article says that Jewell was questioned by FBI agents but was never charged and the Justice Department ultimately apologized to him. [24], Jewell sued the Atlanta Journal-Constitution because, according to Jewell, the paper's headline ("FBI suspects 'hero' guard may have planted bomb") "pretty much started the whirlwind. A skilled outdoorsman, Rudolph had managed to elude law enforcement officials for five years while hiding out in the mountains after bombing four sites in Georgia and Alabama. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. WebBefore the 911 warning reached the area of the sound-and-light tower where Richard Jewell, 33, was stationed as a security guard, Jewell had noticed a small backpack lying I love you.". Based on a 1997 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, Richard Jewells broad narrative cleaves closely to reality. READ NEXT: Richard Jewells Cause of Death: How Did He Die? Its indefensible. Today, Bobi is still alive. If my mom and I had something we wanted to talk about that we didnt want anyone to hear, we wrote it on pieces of paper.
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