By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
The Virginia Citizens Defense League and two private citizens have filed a $12 million lawsuit against Katie Couric and the producers of a documentary broadcast earlier this year on Epix, claiming defamation due to “intentionally manipulated and misleading footage.”
The film was titled “Under the Gun.” It included a segment featuring some Virginia gun owners during which Couric asked “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?”
The version of that interview that aired depicted the gun owners, including one licensed firearms dealer, as momentarily mum. But Van Cleave had taken care to record the entire interview, and after the program was shown on Epix, he released the unedited “raw” video that showed the gun owners providing quick answers.
Two of the people in that segment, Daniel Hawes and Patricia Webb, are co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Bearing Arms posted a copy of the complaint online.
The legal action, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, names director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas Films and Epix as defendants in addition to Couric, who was the reporter/narrator.
Deadline reported that a spokesperson for Epix released the following statement: “The claims against EPIX in this lawsuit are completely without merit. Under The Gun premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it received critical acclaim. Epix saw the Sundance screening and acquired the documentary at that time. The network had no role in its creation or production and should therefore not be a party to this lawsuit.”
VCDL President Philip Van Cleave told TGM via e-mail that, “Katie Couric has publicly admitted that the film, which was presented to VCDL as a ‘documentary,’ was misleading and misrepresented VCDL. However, Couric and the other filmmakers have refused to fix the film or to even stop promoting and distributing it. The only way to hold Couric accountable was to file a lawsuit.”
When the documentary aired earlier in the summer, Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms asserted, “It is clear that the intent (of the film) was never to be unbiased.”
That was an opinion shared by several others who criticized the film. Some people even demanded that Couric lose her job.
While Couric subsequently apologized for what the Washington Times referred to as “misleading editing,” Soechtig “stood by her artistic license.”
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “manipulated the footage in service of an agenda: they wanted to establish that there is no basis for opposing universal background checks by fooling viewers into believing that even a panel of pro-Second Amendment advocates could not provide one. The Defendants intentionally disregarded the truth of the actual exchange that had taken place and took at least six intentional steps to manufacture a fictional exchange to support their agenda.”
The complaint further alleges that, “Before the film’s release, Couric reviewed the manipulated footage and then confronted Soechtig and an Atlas Films editor because the footage was misleading and misrepresented her exchange with the VCDL members. In response, Soechtig and the editor admitted that they had intentionally manipulated the footage. Although the Defendants knew that their intentional edits were misleading and misrepresented Couric’s exchange with the VCDL, they refused to remove the manipulated footage or to present the footage of what had actually taken place. Instead, they promoted and released the film including the fictional exchange.”
The controversy rekindled long standing mistrust among gun owners toward the media. Second Amendment advocates have repeatedly complained about media bias.
