The Gettys Are Coming For This TV Show, Saying It Should Be Called "Lies"

The Getty family and the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III are being adapted for the screen for the second time in a year. This time, for a television series on FX called Trust. The new take on the controversial kidnapping is already under fire from the Getty family who believe that the series implies they were complicit in the brutal and drawn out incident.

John Paul Getty III’s sister, Ariadne Getty, has threatened legal action against the FX series. In a letter obtained and shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Ariadne Getty's lawyer Martin Singer claims the series is "a cruel and mean-spirited defamatory depiction" of the family. He adds: “You are using a false version of the Getty family tragedy for entertainment for your own financial gain.”

The 10-part series directed by Danny Boyle is set to premiere on March 25. Singer claims that Ariadne Getty was never consulted for the series. The letter to FX demands that the network make all of the episodes available for review, suggesting that even the implication of complicity is defamatory.

The Getty kidnapping was also the subject of the 2017 film All The Money In The World which portrayed the well-known family as innocent of involvement in the harrowing crime. Instead, it focused on J. Paul Getty Sr., John Paul Getty III’s grandfather, who famously refused to pay his grandson’s ransom.

The film ran into controversies of its own when Michael Mammoliti, nephew to one of the kidnappers, spoke publicly alleging that J. Paul Getty was complicit in the kidnapping of his grandson. Threatening legal action of his own, Mammoliti claimed that the film took several liberties in the events that transpired during the five months John Paul Getty III was held captive, reports Variety. “If you are accusing our clients’ family of being criminals and showing them in that light, then you shouldn’t show them in a light of being ‘unsuccessful/stupid’ criminals that can’t keep a 16-year-old boy in check. They were great criminals,” explained a statement from their attorney. The crime remains shrouded in mystery and subject to interpretation even from the people closest to it.

According to Vulture, the television network has yet to respond to Singer’s claims.