On June 10, 2019, the "Wall Street Journal" published an op-ed by Fairstein, "Netflix’s False Story of the Central Park Five," in which she says that five were not "totally innocent" (citing the other crimes they were convicted for, for which, she asserts, there is still substantial evidence) and that DuVernay had defamed her. In March 2020, Fairstein filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Netflix, DuVernay, and series writer Attica Locke for defamation based on her portrayal in the series.