Following the influence of the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which helped result in the arrest of singer R. Kelly on prices of aggravated felony sexual abuse after years of inaction from authorities (Kelly denies the fees), Lifetime is popping its focus to uplifting the survivors of one other high-profile predator: Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier, good friend to highly effective world leaders, and convicted intercourse felony who was dealing with additional federal prices of trafficking teenage ladies and younger ladies all around the world when he died final summer time in a dying that was dominated a suicide. Surviving Jeffrey Epstein is a two-night, four-hour restricted sequence telling the tales of eight survivors, with insights from individuals near Epstein, airing Aug. 9-10, the primary anniversary of Epstein’s dying.
The docuseries’ govt producer Bob Friedman and administrators Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, Epstein survivors Kiki Doe and Rachel Benavidez, survivor legal professional Brittany Henderson, and trauma psychologist Janice Stevenson assembled for a digital panel on the Tv Critics Affiliation summer time press tour to speak about how Surviving Jeffrey Epstein is totally different from different Epstein documentaries, just like the current Netflix docuseries Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, and the way the current arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s alleged co-conspirator who’s dealing with federal trafficking and enticement of minors prices, modified the documentary.
Director Ricki Stern stated that Surviving Jeffrey Epstein is totally different from extra news-oriented Epstein stories as a result of it focuses on the ladies who suffered and provides them an in-depth platform to inform their story in their very own phrases. “There’s a lot power in these ladies’s tales, of their historical past,” Stern stated. “To know the place they’ve come from and the place they’re immediately is so highly effective, and that was one thing that we wished to be sure that this sequence portrayed, and Lifetime is in fact the right place for this sequence as a result of they actually worth they usually highlight ladies’s voices.”
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Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire on July 2 whereas the documentary was nearing completion, and so the filmmakers needed to rush to alter the ultimate chapter of the sequence in an effort to meet the immovable deadline of premiering on the anniversary of Epstein’s dying. The fourth episode ended up being very totally different than they initially deliberate, because it offers with Maxwell’s arrest and the survivors processing the truth that they might get the chance for some type of justice in spite of everything. “We ended up filming with all these ladies [on the panel] throughout COVID up to now two, three weeks, so our sequence actually takes you up till the current day proper now,” Stern stated. “I imply, we actually completed it yesterday, and it is happening air in per week, in order that’s an enormous tribute to Lifetime’s wanting to place this on the market in a well timed means, and all of the crew working collectively and other people collaborating on the final minute.” Stern stated that Maxwell’s arrest provides a extra “uplifting” ending to the sequence than if it had ended with Epstein dying, Maxwell disappearing, and the survivors being denied any probability for justice, and she or he imagines there will likely be a follow-up to the sequence as Maxwell’s trial approaches.
There have been quite a lot of Epstein-related tasks up to now 12 months, however the filmmakers do not see curiosity within the case waning, particularly now that Maxwell is dealing with prices. “I do not suppose there will likely be viewer fatigue with the Epstein story,” director Annie Sundberg stated. “I believe individuals felt very robbed of a chance to see a last stab at justice run its course. [After] Epstein’s dying, the felony prices, every thing went away. We lastly have that probability once more, and I believe should you have a look at the response, and the curiosity when Ghislaine was picked up in New Hampshire, it is overwhelming. Individuals actually wish to see justice occur right here.” She stated that survivor Rachel Benavidez, who stories that she was abused by Epstein and Maxwell at his ranch in New Mexico, has an particularly distinctive perspective on Ghislaine Maxwell that seems within the sequence. “The survivors who we profile on this story deliver a unique understanding to who she was and the way she affected their lives,” Sundberg stated.
In line with Lifetime, the community has partnered with Rise to run a particular PSA throughout the airings of the documentary to encourage different survivors to make use of their voice to RISE UP and assist set up Survivors Payments of Rights of their states. Lifetime can even run a PSA from RAINN to supply hotline sources for these in want.
Surviving Jeffrey Epstein premieres Sunday, Aug. 9 at 8/7c on Lifetime.
Rachel Benavidez, Surviving Jeffrey Epstein