Netflix criticised by subject of documentary who claimed to be abducted by aliens
In an upcoming documentary series Netflix, Linda Napolitano has shared her experiences of being abducted by aliens from her New York apartment, but is now trying to block the release of the show due to her concern that the studio is portraying her in an unfavourable light.
Napolitano initially shared her story under the pseudonym of Linda Cortile, describing how three gray figures had taken her during the early hours of the morning on November 30th, 1989. She claims that a blue ray of light descended upon her apartment, before being lifted into a spacecraft that then headed towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
Former artist Budd Hopkins, who then became a UFO specialist, has supported Napolitano’s story in the 1997 book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abduction, which brought further attention and criticism to Napolitano’s story. Hopkins claimed that he believed in Napolitano’s story because he had been sent a letter from two bodyguards who said they had been working in the area when they saw a woman floating through the sky and into the UFO. In addition to this, 20 other eye witnesses also claimed to have seen the spectacle.
At the age of 77, Napolitano is now trying to stop Netflix from releasing the show, titled The Manhattan Alien Abduction, claiming that it portrays her experience through a mocking and skeptical lens and doesn’t fairly recount her experiences. The show also implies that she is trying to deceive Hopkins and isn’t a reliable source.
Napolitano has teamed up with a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the studio, with her attorney Robert Young saying that she is ‘egregiously deceived’ and would not have participated in the production if she knew she would be portrayed this way. Netflix have not yet responded to the comments made by Napolitano or her team.
Napolitano is also angered by the way she is described by Hopkins’ ex-wife, who claims she is an “embittered, alcoholic ex-wife hell bent on revenge against her husband”. Napolitano describes the series as her “last dying act of retribution to get even with her ex-husband, rather than exhibit the actual truth as investigated and written about in Witnessed“, a statement that was filed in the New York Supreme Court earlier this week.
Hopkin’s ex-wife published an article in 2011 that attempted to discredit the alien abduction theory and her husband’s research. Since then, many psychiatrists have studied the reasoning behind why people might believe they were abducted, with some cases being attributed to those that are suffering from PTSD or sexual assault survivors who create alternative memories to replace the ones that are too painful or triggering.
The producers of the film have maintained that they always intended for the series to reflect Napolitano’s version of events, with Napolitano saying that she had been reluctant to agree to the series and only signed on to the project because she was assured that it would share her perspective.
However, Napolitano claims that the producers weren’t honest with her and manipulated her story from the start, finding people to discredit her story in the series and setting up Hopkins’ ex as “an expert in the field”, with scripted interviews that were purposefully organised to discredit her experiences.
Furthermore, Napolitano is filing for defamation and fraud, arguing that she was set up as a “villain for purposes of controversy and conflict,” and that the show will “subject her to shame and ridicule and destroy her reputation as an honest and decent person who experienced the abduction and only agreed to have this documentary of her experience be truthfully told… for the very first time.”