A defense lawyer representing Kyle Rittenhouse during his murder trial revealed that a film crew working for Tucker Carlson attempted to become embedded in the defense team to make a documentary about his client’s acquittal.
“I did not approve of that,” Richards told CNN on Nov. 19. “I threw them out of the room several times. I don’t think a film crew is appropriate for something like this.”
According to Richards, efforts by the Rittenhouse family to raise money for the teen’s trial included having a Carlson film crew present, which Richards described as a “definite distraction,” but “I’m not always the boss.”
Elaborating, Richards said that most of the money Rittenhouse raised for his trial was crowdfunded, although not via GoFundMe. After his acquittal, GoFundMe confirmed that it would allow the teen to raise money again.
“I had a talk with Kyle. All I can say is what I say. Kyle is going to have some hard choices in his life about the direction he goes and what he stands for. Those will have to be made by Kyle eventually. As Cory and I told him yesterday as we were waiting along for the verdict, he needs to learn how to take responsibility and to tell people no,” Richards said in the interview.
Fox News announced the documentary Friday night after Rittenhouse was acquitted, confirming the film will air sometime in December on Fox Nation.
The documentary “will include additional portions of the [Rittenhouse] interview as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Rittenhouse and his defense team,” according to a Fox news release.
Carlson, on his show Nov. 19, showed portions of what his film crew had recorded, including Rittenhouse’s first public comments after being acquitted.
Justin Wells, senior executive producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” told The Associated Press no payment was made for access, footage rights, legal fees, or any other purpose to Rittenhouse or his family.
David Hancock, a spokesman for the Rittenhouse family, also told AP that a possible payment by Fox “was never offered and it was never asked for and it was never discussed.”
And Hancock confirmed that Rittenhouse’s first post-trial interview will be with Carlson on Monday, Nov. 22.
“At the very beginning, [Carlson] saw what was happening and he pointed out that Kyle was defending himself,” Hancock told the AP. Rittenhouse will conduct subsequent interviews with other news outlets, he added.
In another interview after the acquittal, Richards told journalist Ashleigh Banfield that coverage on MSNBC and CNN about the trial was inaccurate and biased.
“It makes me angry that they can’t take the time to at least get the generic, basic facts correct, because it didn’t fit into the story they wanted to tell,” Richards said.
Last week, Rittenhouse was acquitted on all five charges—including one that would have landed him a mandatory life sentence. The jury agreed with Rittenhouse’s argument that he acted in self-defense in the shootings of three men during a night of riots and violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
