Clint Eastwood lands in controversy for untrue portrayal of reporter

The director is being threatened with legal notices over false depiction in latest film

Hollywood actor turned director, Clint Eastwood found himself in hot waters following the release of his latest movie Richard Jewell.

The film which follows the story of a man who was wrongfully caught up in a media firestorm in the wake of the deadly blast at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.garnered a ton of criticism for the allegedly inaccurate portrayal of a reporter involving trading sex for stories.

The actual real-life employer of the reporter who is dramatized in the movie threatened to issue legal notices against the "shocking" and "untrue" portrayal.

Olivia Wilde as Kathy Scruggs in Richard Jewell

Chronicling the dramatic saga that saw Richard Jewell being hailed as a hero for spotting a pipe bomb at the sight before being held as a suspect, the film depicts the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Kathy Scruggs, played by Olivia Wilde, trading sex with an FBI agent in exchange for learning the suspect's identity.

Editor Kevin G. Riley, while talking to AFP said, "The portrayal of our reporter is shocking, untrue and an obvious Hollywood trope," before adding how "the film commits the very sin that it purports to accuse the media of. It literally makes things up in telling the story."

Clint Eastwood on the sets of Richard Jewell

The newspaper's owner, Cox Enterprises has also sent a letter to Eastwood and Warner Bros, calling for a public statement from them which states that "some events were imagined for dramatic purposes."

Eastwood has garnered considerable criticism for some of his earlier work as well. Both Gran Torino and The Mule were called out for the use of racist language by the lead characters, while 2014's American Sniper.

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