Pro-gun group the Virginia Citizens Defense League is suing former TV news anchor Katie Couric, television network Epix and director Stephanie Soechtig for defamation over their documentary Under the Gun.
The suit demands $12m in damages following a fruitless round of accusations and half-apologies over the film’s editing.
In Under the Gun, Couric asks several members of the Virginia-based gun lobby: “If there are no background checks, for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” Nine seconds of silence follow as the interviewees, all of whom are named as plaintiffs, appear to be at a loss for an answer.
But by the VCDL’s accounting, and by the film-makers’ admission, the gun ownership advocates were not in fact silent but answered the question. The VCDL produced an audio recording of the interview published the Washington Free Beacon that does not track with the footage in the movie.
“The bottom line is that while Katie and crew acknowledged that what they’d done was misleading, they continue to promote and distribute the film,” the VCDL’s Philip Van Cleave told the Guardian.
In a statement to the Guardian, Epix said it should not be a part of the suit and that it had had nothing to do with the decisions that led to the deceptive editing: “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.”
The film’s distributors have not altered the portion of the movie containing the silent response to the interview question. Director Stephanie Soechtig told Variety that editing out responses to questions was “pro forma” in an interview; later she issued a statement saying: “I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way.”
Couric addressed the group’s objections in a note appended to the movie’s website headlined A Message From Katie saying the while she had questioned Soechtig’s decision at the time, she gave her director final cut. The apology is followed by a partial transcript of the VCLD members’ answers. The lawsuit includes a screen grab of Couric’s Facebook page, in which she appears to be editing the film with editor Brian Lazarte.
Criticism of the film’s editing was by no means limited to gun enthusiasts. “The statements from Soechtig and Couric will surely intensify the backlash, as well they should,” wrote the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple in a column cited, alongside similar criticism from NPR’s media reporter David Folkenflik, in the lawsuit.
“An apology, retraction, re-editing, whatever it is that filmmakers do to make amends – all of it needs to happen here,” Wemple wrote.
Van Cleave said the note appended to the movie’s website is also inadequate. “They say ‘below is a transcript’ – the transcript isn’t even complete,” he said. “The only way to solve this issue is to file a lawsuit.”
