What Do You Think?
Gloria Allred is in the news again. This time she is going after Hilary Swank. Hilary, is the star and executive producer of a new movie called Conviction. It is the true story of man who was convicted of murdering someone, spent 17 years in jail and was freed when the blood used to convict him was determined by DNA testing to not be his.
The movie is about the man's sister and the steps she took to help free him. Well, apparently Gloria Allred has been hired by the murder victim's children because they feel like Hilary should have talked to them and I guess they wanted to be consulted or paid or something. Although I feel sympathy for the family of the victim, the movie is not about the victim, it is about the man wrongly convicted of the death.
What they are asking is something like lets say in Rudy the producers would have had to talk to the people Rudy played against even though it was not about them. I understand it is a murder so we should feel compassionate but the movie is not about the murder victim. I actually think this might just be a shakedown to get the whole thing to go away. What do you think? Should Hilary have consulted with the family of the murder victim?
43 comments:
I'm not a lawyer but yes, if the woman's name or likeness was used in the movie, then yes. They should of gotten permission and compensation for using it. This is not a not for profit movie and all proceeds are going to charities. It is a movie for profit and most likely another Oscar vehicle for Hillary.
I'm sure there was some legal loophole the movie producers lawyers used so they did not have to get permission or pay the family.
I don't think it is a shakedown but if others are profiting from your families tragedy then yeah you gotta cough up some dough or written permission for their part of the story.
I'm super tired of Gloria Allred. She is such a vampire. She creates the stupidest cases, make idiots 'famous' and it is my opinion that she is contributing to the decline of Western civilization.
I think this is appalling. The man served almost two decades and DNA evidence showed he was not the killer. It's the story of his sister helping to get him freed. He too is a victim, HE DIDN'T DO IT, this is his and his sister's story -- I am sick of Gloria Allred saying she is representing victims when, in this case, she's doing the exploiting and victimizing. Really, she needs to be countersued -- for filing a frivolous lawsuit, for extortion, for harassment, I don't know what but come on.
Gloria Allred wants, no, craves attention. It's a mania. Unfortunately for Gloria, she's not that interesting and neither are the causes that she purports to "represent" (e.g., celebrity mistresses.) Also, she kind of sucks as a lawyer because she's way more about the media talking points than about the law. If you are a lady with hurt feelings and the hurt feelings were caused by a famous person then Gloria will "represent" you . . . but you'll be soooorrrry. (e.g., Whitman's former housekeeper.)
Well, it's hard to say without actually seeing the movie, but I don't think that Hilary should have consulted the victim's family if the mentions in the film were taken from the public record. Again, I haven't seen the movie, but this story is about the man and his sister, so this strikes me as very frivolous.
(By the way, with the way press law goes generally, I don't think she has any legal case unless the daughters themselves are portrayed in the film. Thus, I have to agree with Enty, this is to get the whole production shut down and not let him and his sister have any sympathy in the telling of their side of the story.)
So are they going to sue her or did they just hire her for getting some publicity. I don't how see this is HS's fault and even if they wanted to be contacted that would be on the producers. There is nothing to sue Hillary for.
I read up a bit on this. Although there was someone else's DNA at the scene, so was her brother's. How did that get there? They were actually considering retrying him at some point, but he died 6 months after being released after an accidental fall (head injury.) I guess we will never know, but I bet that the family still feels this man was guilty of killing their mother and shouldn't be celebrated. The further you look at the man, you will realize that he was no saint whatsoever and there was lots of other evidence pointing to him as the killer.
I think Gloria should have Mel Gibson's wife, Oksana Grigorieva, sue the murder victim's children. It's right up both of their publicity-whoring, money-grabbing alleys.
I am the daughter of a murder victim and if someone were doing a story about my fathers killer, I would not expect to be consulted.
I find Gloria Allred truly appalling. An ambulance chaser is all she is. Disgusting!
Wouldn't her lawyers or the studio's lawyers have advised contacting the murder victim's family if it was needed?
@John and Tenley: It makes me want to stand up and cheer to hear others calling out this ambulance-chasing parasite. Everything you said.
Oh, and everybody else who posted while I was writing that.
@Cathi: I'm sorry for what happened, as well.
At one time, I liked Gloria Allred, but she lost her appeal when she started representing women who chose to be victims. The Scott Peterson girlfriend for example was not in that position by choice, but Tiger's mistresses were.
The victim in this movie is a matter of public record. The name must be used, but unless the movie goes into much about the victims family and life, I don't see how this is much of a case.
what john said.
They knew this movie was coming, why now that's it's finished and about to be released...its all about the money.
If they truly cared they would have tried to halt production, but they waited until it was finished, I think that says volumes.
Enty just posted this because he wanted to use the hot picture of Hilary. ;)
Unless she is portraying one of the victim's family, I don't know why she would consult them.
SJP did not consult Dolores Fuller in the making of Ed Wood. Fuller didn't like it (because SJP smoked & portrayed her as mean and unforgiving) but didn't sue. If she didn't have a case, I don't know why these people would.
Cathi-so sorry about your loss.
Just for the record-I hate the whore-chaser that is Gloria Allred as well!
It's not about the murder victim's family, it's about the victim who was sent to prison due to crappy police work and overreaching prosecutors. There would be no reason to consult them. It's just a shakedown.
In the encyclopedia, under "ambulance chaser," there should be a picture of Gloria.
Honestly, if the movie was enough about the victim and her family- than yes, they should have been consulted. But considering it's about the man's sister- it's highly unlikely that's the case.
I can understand that they're probably upset that nobody was jailed over it- but suing anyone they can to get compensation won't take care of that.
While I think this is a total shakedown, I suppose it's *possible* the victim's family might be concerned about how they will be portrayed? I would be.
Hopefully, we are done with anything related to Hillary for a while on this site.
I just don't see why they are going after Hilary instead of the producers or director. That's what makes it seem shady. A lot of actors do meet with people they are portraying to help get insight it isn't a requirement nor was she portraying any of them.
Cathi I am so sorry.
Grrr... I thought I posted...
Long story short - I know the woman the movie is about. She was my landlord. And in law school with my Husband. I have a feeling that if Hillary Swank is protraying her, she will come off all tough and amazing and smart. Not exactly the truth. The Innocence Project are the people that really did the work.
Anyway, I think there is no legal right on the part of the victims. But more importantly, I think there is no moral right either. This movie isn't about them or about the victim.
I do believe he was completely innocent of this crime and felt really bad when he died after all that time in jail. But he wasn't an "innocent" or "pure" person. He had been a troubled kid with a juvenile record and that's why he was a suspect in the first place.
she had no legal obligation to consult them. i agree that they probably don't like what happened here and wanted to give their side or something, but that's not what this is about.
allred is suffering from overexposure. everyone hates her and shit like this only makes it worse.
I hope there is just a blind after this. I don't care to sort through pics. It's been awhile.
@Rose - Hilary is the executive producer. Guessing she wanted it as a starring vehicle for herself.
I used to like her too, but now I wished she'd be disbarred. Exactly how does she make her business suit and brooch money?
By preying on poor idiots. All she's good for is hand holding and hankie handling and anybody could do that!
1. Ask a female attorney who works in mainly in family law and civil rights, I am appalled at Gloria Allred. She really ruins the reputation of good, honest lawyers and perpetuates the "ambulance chaser" image cliche. Though I have no doubt she has more money in the bank that me, I am embarrassed for her and for her behavior as a professional.
2. I am quite sure the the legal folks at whatever production company vetted this pretty thoroughly before the movie was made, but Ms. Allred saw a way to ride Hilary Swank's coattails and gain publicity for her client's likely meritless claim. It may put some nuisance $$ in her pocket and maybe a bit to her client, but the real value is more TV time for Gloria.
Sorry. I wish I liked the woman but I just cannot. Slime, she is.
Like Enty and others have noted, this movie is about Hilary Swank's character, who went above and beyond to prove her brother's innocence. This is her story.
I'm starting to think that Gloria Allred is the legal equivalent to Lindsay Lohan in terms of her insatiable need for media attention.
I really can't say how I feel about this without seeing the movie.
I'm not sure why the family of the victim would think they would be portrayed badly. How much are they going to be featured..?
I'd be more worried for the people portraying the police that handled the investigation.
No - Hillary Swank had no obligation whatsoever to consult with the victim's family. I feel bad for them, but no matter what they do, their loved one is never going to come back. I know...
I think it is clear that Gloria Allred is an attention seeking ambulance chaser. Her cases that she chooses to publicize seem to have a very high ratio of press attention to legal merit. Let's restate that last thought the ratio is undefined since the legal merit is ZERO!
@ice angel - check out the innocence project page on the case. There is not a lot pointing to him at all. Better still on scotus blog there is a great blow by blow of the behind the scenes crap re the prosecutors and the defence attorney in the original case.
He may not have been an angel, but there was and is scant evidence he had anything to do with the crime.
Read some more.
Thanks RocketQueen, I didn't realize that. It makes a little more sense.
Gloria's new legal specialty, extortion after the fact. Isn't this the same thing as getting hookers money for sex after the act, in order to get paid hooker money? This is a woman who was greatly admired and now she's just a bottom feeder.
Whatever sympathy I would have had for the kids is gone, all the information about this case was public and not owned by the family. It's greed, nothing more than greed.
I don't think there's a case here. And I don't fault Gloria Allred either. I laugh every time she makes someone like Tiger, or Jesse James, pay the piper. So many times these guys walk away with no penalty what so ever, after harming others (including children!) with their lies. I'm more tired of people getting away with misdeeds than Gloria making scum like Tiger loose the only thing in their life that has value - money. I bet Tiger thinks twice before he marries someone else and spends the entire marriage lying to them. Who else does this besides Gloria Allred?
I will continue to have a good day since I have no idea who this idiot is...I feel bad for both sides but if I were the victims family, I would want the innocent man freed. I would have liked some notice if my family's name were going to be used in conjunction with anything in the media but would not expect any compensation. Good for this man's sister and what she was able to accomplish...maybe it was a team effort...but the truth came out. Did they ever find the real killer??
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