Taken in a lie ‘director answers burning questions

Sherri Papini is a bad wife, an abusive mother and a drain on society. In short, she is a very troubled woman. This is what the film for life Hoax: the removal of Sherri Papini (2023), Hulu documentary series Perfect woman: the mysterious disappearance of Sherri Papini (2024), oxygen documentary Sherri Papini: lies, lies and more lies (2022) and almost all the information media which covered his disappearance and re -emergence of 2016 (and his arrest in 2022, his subsequent trial and his prison sentence) will tell you.

The story happens like this: Papini, a woman and a mother of two, simulated her own kidnapping, stayed with an ex-girlfriend for 22 days and made her beat her and mark her with an iron. She “escaped” and returned home on the morning of Thanksgiving. The motif was said to be a mixture of narcissism and a cry of attention from her husband, Keith Papini. But in a new documentation, Sherri Papini has a very different story to share – and she shares the first hand with the filmmaker Nicole Rittenmeyer.

Rittenmeyer, director of Jussie smollett: anatomy of a hoax (2023), has a fairly good BS detector. For four episodes in the last two nights, Rittenmeyer has put the screws to Papini. For about 20 minutes on Friday before the Discovery investigation Sherri Papini: taken in lie First, we put the screws to Rittenmeyer. Read our questions and answers below.

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Do you think Sherri?

This is a good question, but I will kick because I am not this kind of filmmaker. I am not a plea or an activist filmmaker. I really have the impression that my job is to present everything I have and to leave that to viewers to conclude. I would say this, however, at the very beginning, I was, frankly, a little worried. I said to myself: “Should I even take this show?” Two things were possible: 1) It would be so clear that she was such a easy, compulsive and superficial men’s that you could see through. Who wants to make a show about it? There is no challenge there. Or 2) She was going to lead and mea culpa everywhere: “I really crossed him, and I was emotionally this” or: “I blame the drug.” Or, you know, who devil knows? It would not have been very interesting either.

Fortunately, it ended up being a third: there was something fleshy to plumber and analyze and serve viewers so that they could draw their own conclusions.

The short version of Sherri’s new story is that his ex-girlfriend, James Reyes, kidnapped her and held her against his will. You could not speak to him. Your PI has tried, but what is your opinion on James?

It never made sense to me that Sherri asked her to mark her, without a doubt or to ask why – or even to ask what the word meant – he will say to himself: “Yeah, of course, because I am a friend.” No, it just doesn’t happen any odor tests.

Sherri’s husband, Keith Papini, had a say – a lot. He did not participate in your project. What is your opinion on Keith?

The thing about this story is that everyone, not just Sherri, has a program. It was not clear for me (previous films). In all justice with my colleagues filmmakers who preceded me – I know the people who made two thirds of these films, I worked with them before – they did not have access to the full history. They worked with what they had. And you know, when Keith is your main source of information and has a program, you will end up perpetuating this program, right?

Sherri was not the one who ran the media, despite the fact that everyone assumes that she is a narcissist, which he was not diagnosed with. Keith made the media waded, and it’s after his return, right? So it was not only: “I have to find my wife.” The story that exists on him as a victim of Sherri – Poor Keith who has been blowing for a long time – The serves it very well. He clearly indicated that he was not particularly interested in having our show for us, because it defies this story, and I think it makes very good holes spend there. My personal opinion on Keith probably does not matter, but I think we present enough to make you question the existing conventional wisdom on which he is and why he did what he did.

Sherri cannot bring criminal charges against James without the police, and they don’t believe his history. Why has she not filed a civil prosecution against James?

She plans to table a civil action, and for sure, she was absolutely willing to carry criminal charges. The problem is – and I checked this with our FBI experts, and with the DoJ – it is a horrible witness, of course, because it has a conviction for having lied. She really searched herself. In many ways, this show concerns so much the object lesson of what is happening when you lie. Because it was really taken in it. Sherri Papini: taken in a lie is A completely appropriate title.

If all Sherri wants is that her children come back, why did she wait to tell her story in documentation that has just been released now? His Keith divorce was finalized two years ago …

Remember, she has a family lawyer and a criminal defense lawyer … She wanted to shout that on the roofs. She did not see [this docuseries]. She will see him when everyone will do. I was literally simply sent by SMS with her, and there is a feeling of relief palpable of her to be able to get her out. I think she feels like having a fair blow.

It is the fundamental human nature of being like: “Oh, you are a liar, you are not going to be wrong.” I spent time and disproportionate efforts and efforts and I exhausted myself at first trying to catch it. “I’m going to get you here. I’ll have fun. ” And I caught its way less than what I expected that I would do it.

I moved away from your question. Let me answer this because I think it’s important. The reason she did not shout her on the roofs is that the meaning was that it would complicate her ability to get her children. Because don’t forget, they did not take away her children because of all this. Keith obtained a guard order because she went to prison, and that had to change when the conditions change. His prison release is the change in conditions. But he doesn’t make children. This is why she is fighting in detention at the moment. And in fact, this trial was supposed to be resolved some time ago, but it continues to be delays; The courthouse flooded. She finds it difficult to bring her children back in any way she was informed.

It’s really difficult to sit on it. She had a whole declaration written for the court and she wanted to tell her real story. His criminal defense lawyer is an intelligent guy, and he said to himself: “Do not say that thing, because that will not resonate with this judge.”

At the very end of the final, Sherri asks you if you believe that the documentary houses will help him or will have trouble. We do not hear your answer. What was your answer and why did you close the film at this special moment?

So many people have asked me this question. I say to myself: “Damn, I wonder if I should have put it in the film?” I will first answer the second question. I chose to put it in the film in this way because I wanted to leave the public with this question: “Do you think that this film helped him or to hurt him?” For this reason, my answer did not seem important.

The way I answered was: “My hope for this film is that it will make you a character of flesh and three -dimensional blood, that you have not gone. You have been tarmac and feathered, which is suspended to us, on the city square, all these things. Dehumanize people when you don’t see them like people.

I hope, if nothing else, it makes her a person and not an object. A person who has had his motivations and who is deeply wrong, without a doubt. And that’s what I told him.

Eminem has a line on Sherri in “Houdini.“It is not mentioned in the film, but have you discussed it with it?
What you thought you saw is not what you saw (no)
Because you are never “
Caught sleeping and seeing the kidnappin ‘never happened (no)
Like Sherri Papini, Harry Houdini
I disappeared in the thin air while I leave like

If you are Sherri Papini and you follow, which has been said about you, [the “Houdini” line] is by far the least offensive, obvious and insulting thing. I mean, it’s almost positive.

I asked him questions about it. We wanted to put it in the show. But the granting of Eminem licenses [is expensive]. She made him explain a friend, like: “You reached advanced pop culture.” I don’t think it’s unhappy, I’m going to say it that way.

You have sometimes pushed Sherri, including during reconstructions of the alleged kidnapping, which she agreed to do. They clearly triggered it-was it difficult for you to balance the documentary work with humanity?

Absolutely. You saw the conversation we had with his doctor about it. I would say that it is probably as close as I bypassed the ethical line. It didn’t feel well. I don’t even know if he is completely captured in the video, but she was trembling so hard that you could see her at 20 feet away. [Doctors] Tell me that you could not simulate this kind of autonomous nervous response to similar. She couldn’t just existence. And honestly, in full truth, I pulled the catch. I had my producer sitting with me. My DPS was there, and we all look at ourselves like “I can’t”. It was like kicking a puppy.

I knew something was going to happen. What I was thinking frankly is that she would break the lie, that she would reveal that she remembered something. He therefore did not foresee that this answer. The polygraph and the polygraph have both become these catalysts for breakthroughs when we did interviews thereafter. It broke things. I think it allowed us to go faster with the kind of psychological deconstruction of the reason why she may have done what she did, so I would not take it back. I’m happy to have done it. But yes, it didn’t feel well.

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Sherri Papini of Discovery investigation: taken in the lie is now in difficulty on Max.