It is not every day that the movie creators have to face the criticism of their subject matter themselves. But when it comes to a biopic of real people who are alive to watch their lives being portrayed on screen or are remembered by their families and friends, this risk is always there.
Here are the top 20 times biopic movies and series were brutally slammed by the real people themselves or their family and friends.
20. The Fifth Estate (2013)
When the 2013 film ‘The Fifth Estate,’ about the news-leaking website WikiLeaks, came out, the founder of the site, Julian Assange, himself came out to voice his. He wrote a letter to Benedict Cumberbatch, who played him, telling him. The script of the film was leaked on WikiLeaks before the movie came out. Along came a 4,000-word essay criticizing it for being inaccurate, misleading, and irresponsible.
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19. Griselda (2024)
Netflix’s crime series followed the Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco, who was known as one of the most powerful people in the trade in the 1970s and 80s. The series was not well received by Griselda’s family, who filed a lawsuit to block its release. They accused Netflix of using their family’s likeness and private narrative without any authorization or compensation.
However, their attempt was unsuccessful as the series still came out as planned. The show’s creator, Eric Newman, brushed off the legal dispute, saying that it was not his first rodeo, referencing his previous feud with the Escobar family over ‘Narcos.’
18. Love Story (2026)
Jack Schlossberg, the nephew of John F. Kennedy Jr., has publicly criticized Ryan Murphy’s ‘Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette’. As soon as the series was announced, he made it clear that the Kennedy family hadn’t been consulted and hadn’t approved it. On several occasions, he has criticized Murphy for profiting from a grotesque display of someone else’s life.
17. The Theory of Everything (2014)
Though Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking attended the film’s premiere to support the cast and crew, she later pointed out many mistakes the movie made. Her 2007 memoirs served as the primary source for the film, but she felt the movie didn’t stay true to her story. She particularly highlighted that it glossed over the difficulties she had with taking care of Stephen. She still praised the performances given by Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne.
16. The Social Network (2010)
Mark Zuckerberg believes that the 2010 film ‘The Social Network,’ which dramatized the creation of Facebook, terribly fumbled the bag in its portrayal. He highlighted how the movie promoted the framing that the whole reason he made Facebook was to get girls. Hilariously, he had to admit that the movie nailed his 2000s wardrobe, as almost every piece of clothing seen in it was his.
15. The Staircase (2022)
It tells the story of crime novelist Michael Peterson’s murder of his wife. At the time, he and his family allowed documentarians Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Sophie Brunet access to the case. A documentary miniseries was made that followed Peterson’s trial.
Nearly two decades later, HBO took up the story and created its own mini-series with Toni Collette. However, this time, both the original director, de Lestrade, and Michael Peterson took issue with their portrayals. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade wasn’t thrilled at his depiction as an unethical documentarian. Peterson believed the show trashed his family and blamed de Lestrade for ratting them out.
14. House of Gucci (2021)
When the ‘House of Gucci’ came out to tell the story behind the murder of Maurizio Gucci, the family took to the press to reveal that they weren’t consulted at all. They criticized the movie for portraying the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant, and insensitive to the world around them.
Lady Gaga’s role of Patrizia Reggiani was also criticized for being completely untrue. The family highlighted how her portrayal of struggling with the chauvinistic corporate culture at Gucci wasn’t true, as there were several women holding top positions during that time.
13. Inventing Anna (2022)
Shonda Rhimes kicked the hornet’s nest with her miniseries inspired by the story of ‘How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People’. Anna Delvey came out to say she was portrayed as far more brazen and shameless than she considers herself.
On the other hand, Rachel DeLoache Williams, who counted herself among Delvey’s victims, accused the show of exploiting her trauma to put the criminal in the spotlight. This was followed by Delvey accusing Williams of trying to sell her own version of the story to HBO.
12. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024)
Ryan Murphy’s second part of the series ‘Monsters‘ takes up the story of the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murdering their parents and remain in prison to this day. Shortly after the series came out, the Menendez family came out with a lengthy statement describing the show as “phobic, gross, and anachronistic” and that it was a completely untrue portrayal of the brother. Murphy’s reply to the criticism of the show was that they didn’t make any stuff up and just showed what was already presented before.
11. Green Book (2018)
‘Green Book’ is based on the story of Dr. Don Shirley, a queer Black classical musician. But despite its interesting approach and many Oscars in 2019, the movie remains controversial. The Shirley family has come forward to publicly dispute the movie for its many inaccuracies. This even brought Mahershala Ali, who won an Oscar for portraying Dr. Shirley, to apologize to the family. Critics have also criticized the movie for being racially tone-deaf and for promoting the “white savior” narrative.
10. The Act (2019)
Between the 2017 HBO documentary ‘Mommy Dead and Dearest’ and the story’s revival in ‘The Act’, the story of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard never fails to leave the public in shock. However, Gypsy Rose’s cousin has come forward to reveal that Dee Dee’s sisters believe that the story should be left alone and have disapproved of the making of the new series on several occasions. Whereas the cousin herself described Dee Dee as “crazy.”
9. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Acclaimed as one of the best films of all time, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ has seen love from both critics and the mass audience. However, it didn’t meet the approval of the subject’s brother himself, who revealed that he despised the movie. He also refused to let the director use the title “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” for the movie, which was the name of Lawrence’s memoir and served as the major inspiration for the movie.
8. Nina (2016)
The 2016 film based on Nina Simone’s life faced backlash after it was revealed that Zoe Saldana would portray the singer. Nina’s daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, expressed dissatisfaction with a light-skinned woman of Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Haitian descent being cast as Nina. Zoe Saldana herself came out to apologize, revealing that Nina’s story deserved better.
7. American Crime Story (2016)
Ryan Murphy had to face two of the most powerful families in his true-crime series ‘American Crime Story’. For the first season, the Kardashian family disputed the portrayal of Robert Kardashian and his role in the O.J. Simpson trial.
Whereas, in the second season, he got into a war with the entire Versace family when he covered the murder of the fashion designer Gianni Versace. Both families dragged the feud very publicly, though it didn’t stop Murphy from venturing into more controversial cases.
6. Priscilla (2023)
Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, wasn’t happy with her father’s portrayal in the film ‘Priscilla’. She criticized the movie for showing her father only as a predator and manipulative, and called the movie “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous”. The movie divided the mother and daughter, as Priscilla Presley was directly involved in the film’s production.
5. Winnie Mandela (2011)
The late wife of Nelson Mandela heavily criticized her portrayal in the 2011 movie ‘Winnie Mandela,’ whose role was taken up by Jennifer Hudson. Mandela revealed that the movie creators never approached her and never took her consent. She saw it as a total disrespect to make romanticized movies about a living person’s struggle without ever consulting them.
4. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
The first installment of Ryan Murphy’s true crime series ‘Monster’ also came under backlash. This time, from the loved ones of Dahmer’s real-life victims. Many came out to say that they mustn’t use people’s names and put up things so carelessly.
Ryan responded that his team reached out to the victim’s friends and family before the show’s release. But they received no response. Hence, he had to rely heavily on his research team.
3. Narcos (2015)
The Colombian cartel leader Pablo Escobar’s life was portrayed in the hit Netflix series ‘Narcos’. However, the real man’s son, who renounced his father’s life of violence, believed that the series wasn’t violent enough. He published a list of grievances against the show, highlighting its many inaccuracies. The biggest complaint was how it glorified his father. Allegedly, he reported that several young men reached out to him looking for advice.
2. Pam & Tommy (2022)
This Hulu miniseries tells the story of the theft and illegal distribution of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape in the late 90s. Anderson described the movie as a “salt on the wound” of her trauma, denying ever being consented to by the show’s creators. She also called out producer Seth Rogen to come forward and apologize for making a TV series out of someone’s most difficult time in life.
1. The Blind Side (2009)
‘The Blind Side’ is known as a biographical film about Michael Oher’s journey to NFL stardom after the wealthy Tuohy family took him in and provided him with the resources to kickstart his career. However, Oher has come forward several times to reveal his disapproval of the movie. He also felt that the director made a deliberate choice to portray him as dumb. He ended up suing the Tuohy family, claiming that they exploited him for financial gain, though the family has denied.
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