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Home · Celebrity

'We Got It Wrong': Linda Fairstein Stripped Of Glamour's 1993 Woman of the Year Award

The former prosecutor has been under fire since Netflix's "When They See Us" premiered.
Linda Fairstein Stripped Of Glamour’s Woman of the Year Award
Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire
By Essence · Updated December 6, 2020

Just days after she closed her social media accounts and stepped down from the boards of a few non-profit organizations, Linda Fairstein is now being stripped of an honor.

Glamour magazine admitted Tuesday that they had made a mistake when they honored the former prosecutor, who was leading the investigation on the Central Park jogger case in April 1989 in which five Black boys were wrongfully convicted.

The story of Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson—who each served between six and 13 years in prison—is now the center of Netflix’s trending series, When They See Us, directed by Ava Duvernay.

In a letter written by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Samantha Barry, the magazine said that if Fairstein were up for consideration now, “unequivocally, Glamour would not bestow this honor on her today.”

“She received the award in 1993, before the full injustices in this case were brought to light,” the open letter continued. “Though the convictions were later vacated and the men received a settlement from the City of New York, the damage caused is immeasurable.”

Indeed, the now-men, largely known as the Central Park Five, received a $41 million settlement from the city of New York in 2014 after a serial rapist confessed to the crime, freeing the young men and exonerating them.

Linda Fairstein Stripped Of Glamour’s Woman of the Year Award
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 20:(L-R) Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam, collectively known as the “Central Park Five”, attend the World Premiere of Netflix’s “When They See Us” at the Apollo Theater on May 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

The letter continued, “Glamour’s Women of the Year awards should reflect our culture, the values of our brand, and our audience. We remain committed to being thoughtful and purposeful about whom we choose to celebrate, and in this case, the lens of history has shown us that we got it wrong.”

Previously, Glamour’s Women of the Year Award has honored women, including Laverne Cox, Robin Roberts, Senator Kamala Harris and Janelle Monaé.

Linda Fairstein Stripped Of Glamour’s Woman of the Year Award
A scene from When They See Us

Fairstein being stripped of this honor comes after the #CancelLindaFairstein hashtag began trending on social media last week. Since then, Fairstein, who is now the author of bestselling crime novels, resigned from the boards of Vassar College, along with the non-profits Safe Horizon, God’s Love We Deliver and the Joyful Heart Foundation, The Hollywood Reporter noted.

Still, Fairstein continues to defend her role in prosecuting the controversial case, calling When They See Us “a basket of lies.” She also accused DuVernay, who directed the four-part series now streaming on Netflix, as being the reason for the severe backlash.

“Her lies are behind it all,” she added of Duvernay, who revealed earlier this week that Fairstein tried to negotiate her involvement on the series during the scriptwriting process.

TOPICS:  Linda Fairstein
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