Michael Peterson, the real-life subject of HBO drama TheStaircase, speaks out against what he calls 'egregious fabrications' in the series
Peterson’s wife Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of the staircase of their North Carolina home in 2001. Authorities discovered that Peterson, who identifies as bisexual, was having sexual relationships with men. He was charged with murdering his wife and convicted in 2003. He’s now free, after the charges were reduced to manslaughter in a retrial.
“He released his archive to Campos who then created a fictional account of events, most of which trashed me and my children — which I really do care about,” Peterson says. “There are egregious fabrications and distortions of the truth in the HBO series, well beyond what may be considered ‘artistic’ license.”
“Antonio and I talked a lot throughout the years, and I really thought he got the story right,” says de Lestrade. “So when they started the writing process there were writers in the same room with many ideas and they worked for many hours. I couldn’t be involved in that process from Paris. Also, since I really trusted Antonio, I didn’t ask for the script. I know that it’s difficult to understand, but I now know that I can’t trust anyone in this business. I should have asked. It’s my mistake.
“It is disingenuous and hypocritical for Jean to talk about his integrity being challenged when he sold himself to Campos and showed no integrity or sense of responsibility to us,” says Peterson. “I like and respect Jean, but no matter how he tries to spin it, he received somewhere around $75,000 for our story, a paltry sum, certainly in light of the horrific damage my family suffered,” Peterson says. “And he failed to mention how he opened his entire archive of footage on us to Antonio.”