Jameis Winston says he's prepared to sue if the cable news network goes ahead and airs the documentary accusing him of rape. 
 
 Two days before CNN is set to debut The Hunting Ground, an attorney for former Florida State University and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston is warning the cable news network that its documentary about college campus rapes is defamatory. 
 
 "We are writing to formally caution CNN that the portions of the film 'The Hunting Ground' pertaining to Mr. Winston are false and defamatory to Mr. Winston," states a letter to CNN's Jeff Zucker, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "We urge CNN to reconsider the reckless decision to proceed with the broadcast of this deeply-flawed documentary in the face of the overwhelming evidence the film's producers consciously and intentionally failed to adhere to any accepted journalistic standards." 
 
 Winston was accused of rape by Erica Kinsman during the football player's Heisman Trophy season. The Tallahasee Police Department and FSU conducted a much-criticized investigation and took no action against Winston, who was selected first overall in the NFL draft this past May and in the midst of his rookie season. 
 
 As Kinsman and Winston duel with each other in court — she's suing him for sexual battery, he's brought counterclaims for tarnishing his image — The Hunting Ground has lurked in the background after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. 
 
 Directed by Kirby Dirk and produced by Amy Ziering, Hunting Ground spotlights Kinsman coming forward to speak publicly for the first time about what Winston allegedly did to her, as well as the ensuing investigations. At Sundance, the film was warmly received, but it's since been attacked as unfair in some circles. 
 
 Winston's letter from attorney John Boudet alleges that the film "manipulates, misstates or simply omits facts to present a false narrative," that the filmmakers omitted exculpatory evidence like toxicology tests, medical examinations and eyewitness testimony, and also that Amy Herdy, one of the film's producers, admitted in one email that the film is "in the corner of advocacy for victims" with "no need to get the perpetrator's side." 
 
 FSU has voiced its own complaints and asked CNN not to air the film, but Winston goes much further. 
 
 "CNN may have persuaded itself that Mr. Winston's status as a public figure insulates your company from a libel judgment," states the letter. "If CNN decides to proceed with this broadcast, we will perhaps have the opportunity to test that legal proposition in a court of law." 
 
 On Saturday morning, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering issued the following statement to THR: "We fully stand behind Erica Kinsman’s account, and the accounts of all the subjects in our film. When documentaries bring to light uncomfortable truths about powerful people and institutions, it's not unusual for them to wage aggressive campaigns to silence their critics. That's what we're seeing now. We invite viewers to watch the documentary and draw their own conclusions." 
 
 The full letter is below. 
 
 We've reached out to CNN for comment. 
 
 Nov. 21, 11:16 a.m.: Updated with statement from filmmakers. ||||| CNN Airs Documentary On Sexual Assault, Despite Legal Threats 
 
 CNN aired The Hunting Ground — a controversial documentary about campus sexual assaults — despite the threat of legal action. 
 
 A lawyer for Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston threatened to sue CNN if it aired the film on Sunday night. It ran as scheduled. 
 
 In the film, Erica Kinsman accuses Winston of committing sexual assault during his time on the football team at Florida State University, a claim his lawyer says is defamatory. 
 
 In a letter to CNN first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, lawyer John Boudet says the film "manipulates, misstates or simply omits facts to present a false narrative": 
 
 "We urge CNN to reconsider the reckless decision to proceed with the broadcast of this deeply-flawed documentary in the face of the overwhelming evidence the film's producers consciously and intentionally failed to adhere to any accepted journalistic standards." 
 
 The documentary, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, argues women are at serious risk of sexual assault on college campuses and many college administrators have repeatedly tried to sweep the problem under the rug to avoid public relations problems. 
 
 Kinsman has filed a lawsuit against Winston, accusing him of forcible rape in 2012. He was not charged by police in Florida and is now starting for the Buccaneers. 
 
 Kinsman's lawyer, John Clune, issued a statement over the weekend saying Winston had launched a "PR battle": 
 
 "His latest attack is an attempt to revive his lawyers' media themes and, as expected, shows no understanding of rape trauma and misrepresents the actual evidence. More importantly, Mr. Winston should get used to the rape allegations against him because film or no film, they aren't going away." 
 
 CNN made clear it would go ahead with plans to air the documentary. 
 
 "CNN is proud to provide a platform for a film that has undeniably played a significant role in advancing the national conversation about sexual assault on college campuses," a network spokeswoman told The New York Times. "We are confident that both the film and our extensive associated coverage give this important issue the full and fair treatment it deserves." 
 
 The Hunting Ground has also been criticized for its depiction of an incident at Harvard Law School, in which a student was accused of assaulting two women. 
 
 A letter signed by 19 Harvard Law School faculty members said the film "provides a seriously false picture both of the general sexual assault phenomenon at universities and of our student," noting a grand jury declined to indict him on the most serious sexual assault charges brought against him. 
 
 The documentary makers say they stand behind the case as they presented it. ||||| On their website, Mr. Dick and Ms. Ziering dismiss critics of the film, saying, “The truth is on our side.” In a statement on Sunday afternoon, they said: “We were not surprised by the lengths Mr. Winston and his lawyer were willing to go to stop the public from seeing this film. When documentaries bring to light uncomfortable truths about powerful people and institutions, it’s not unusual for them to wage aggressive campaigns to silence their critics. We fully stand behind Erica Kinsman and all of the survivors who bravely spoke out in our film.” Ms. Kinsman is Mr. Winston’s accuser. 
 
 Mr. Winston’s threat of legal action came a week after 19 Harvard professors attacked “The Hunting Ground,” saying it distorted the university’s handling of a sexual assault claim. The accusation eventually resulted in a conviction for misdemeanor nonsexual assault against a student, Brandon Winston, who was not named in the film, but was named in the professors’ letter. Late last week, Brandon Winston’s defense team and supporters unveiled an elaborate website that explains their view of his actions and takes “The Hunting Ground” to task for what it calls “critical omissions and distortions.” 
 
 Mr. Dick and Ms. Ziering last week challenged the Harvard professors’ action in a text message to The New York Times. It said, in part: “Everything in ‘The Hunting Ground’ is accurate and we fully stand behind our Harvard Law survivor’s account of her assault, as well as the accounts of all the subjects in our film.” 
 
 Escalating denunciation of “The Hunting Ground” comes as the movie is being considered by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a so-called short list of 15 documentary feature Oscar contenders, which will be released next month. The film’s critics have also had an eye on the large viewership CNN may bring to a film that found only a tiny audience in theaters when released in February by the Weinstein Company’s digitally oriented Radius-TWC unit. 
 
 As of March, for instance, another controversial documentary, “Blackfish,” about the treatment of whales in captivity, had been seen by about 27 million viewers on CNN, though it had just $2 million in ticket sales when Magnolia Pictures released it in 2013.
– CNN aired a documentary about campus rape Sunday night—and this one came with the threat of a lawsuit ahead of time. The network ran The Hunting Ground, a documentary first seen at the Sundance Film Festival, reports NPR. The most controversial part includes an interview with Erica Kinsman, who accuses football star Jameis Winston of sexually assaulting her while at Florida State. Winston, a Heisman winner who is now a quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, never faced criminal rape charges, and the school cleared him of misconduct, notes the New York Times. Kinsman is suing Winston, however, and Winston's lawyers now may do the same to CNN, reports the Hollywood Reporter. "We are writing to formally caution CNN that the portions of the film 'The Hunting Ground' pertaining to Mr. Winston are false and defamatory to Mr. Winston," says a letter to CNN obtained by the site ahead of Sunday's airing. But CNN shot back in a statement that it is "proud to provide a platform for a film that has undeniably played a significant role in advancing the national conversation about sexual assault on college campuses." Winston's legal team says the film “manipulates, misstates or simply omits facts to present a false narrative," but filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering say "the truth is on our side."