Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies director Alexandra Dean slams child abuse claims
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Alexandra Dean had high expectations for the ‘Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies’ television series when she agreed to direct it for Peacock. Time magazine had described the Casey Anthony murder case as the social media trial of the century. In a trial that gripped the nation in 2011, Casey, now 36, was found not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee.
In 2008, she was accused of killing her daughter. But after the November 29 premiere of Peacock's three-part docuseries, Dean realized Casey is still a divisive figure, just as she was when she was cleared of murder by 12 jurors in 2007. "We checked the transcripts and Casey told those psychologists the same story she tells us now: that her father appeared with Caylee soaking wet in his arms, that the baby appeared lifeless, but he said she’d be alright, that she listened to him because she wanted to believe him, and that he disappeared with Caylee and she didn’t know where he went. So, Casey’s story has been consistent all these years," Dean told Vanity Fair on Casey's child abuse story. The presenters of 'The View', Cardi B and Nancy Grace were just a few of the people who openly criticized the show. Grace, who declined a request to participate in the project, does not think it qualifies as a documentary. “When I hear the word documentary, I think of something that is truthful,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
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The series was referred to as "a soft-focus vanity project from a world-class narcissist" by Rebecca Nicholson, a critic for the Guardian. Dean, a former Bloomberg reporter, was shocked by the public backlash against 'Where the Truth Lies.' According to her, she handled the Casey Anthony documentary in the same manner as she did her past nonfiction works, 'Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story' and 'Secrets of Playboy' – as a journalist. She investigated the case in-depth, looked over all the evidence, checked it, and spoke with numerous people on all sides of the issue, including Casey and the police who had accused her of murder. "We don’t want to acknowledge that parents can sexually abuse their children because it’s simply too frightening. The damage to the children is so profound. We never want to hear about such terrifying sexual abuse. It took years and years of whistleblowers coming forward to begin the #MeToo movement," Dean said on Casey's childhood sexual abuse which was dismissed by the public.
Other issues explored in the program include the alleged damage Casey experienced as a result of the sexual assault and the Stockholm syndrome Caylee experienced throughout her 31-day confinement. The audience hears Casey for the first time in Dean's on-camera conversation with her. Dean insists that Peacock and she did not pay Casey for the interview and that she had entire editorial control over the docuseries. (Dean claims that Anthony did receive a small amount of money for the archival material, including photos and films, that she provided to the production). "Casey says she chose to speak now because she’s been through 10 years of therapy and dealt with a lot of her trauma and she finally understands what happened to her," Dean told Vanity Fair.
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