Movies - TV
The Staircase: Michael Peterson Pens Furious Response To HBO Series That 'Trashed Me'
By VALERIE ETTENHOFER
Michael Peterson has joined the list of people angered by HBO’s "The Staircase," the series about the real-life murder trial of his wife, Kathleen Peterson, and the Jean-Xavier de Lestrade-directed documentary that chronicled that time. He claimed that the Colin Firth-led series had “egregious fabrications” and blamed de Lestrade for “pimping [him and his family] out” by executive producing.
Peterson claimed that creator Antonio Campos distorted the truth “well beyond what may be considered 'artistic' license.” While “The Staircase” drew from de Lestrade's docuseries and Peterson’s book, Peterson stated that the portrayals of family infighting were false, while docuseries filmmakers disputed the implication that Sophie Brunet edited the series while romantically involved with Peterson.
Most of Peterson’s anger, however, was towards de Lestrade, saying “[he] sold OUR story to Campos for money” and “showed no integrity or sense of responsibility to us” by not informing him about Campos’ project. De Lestrade has denied Peterson’s accusations, but did express his regret in not asking to read the scripts for the HBO show before it aired.