{"id":108414,"date":"2025-08-30T20:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T20:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/108414\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T20:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T20:23:07","slug":"e-jean-carroll-hopes-her-explosive-doc-will-finish-off-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/108414\/","title":{"rendered":"E. Jean Carroll Hopes Her Explosive Doc Will ‘Finish Off’ Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe sitting room of E. Jean Carroll<\/a>\u2019s modest hotel suite in Telluride is washed in muted mountain tones: beige carpets, pine fixtures and an ancient fireplace. Don\u2019t worry, the decades-long advice columnist brings the color with her.<\/p>\n

\n\tCarroll enters the room with her signature blonde bob and a shock-orange jumpsuit, brandished in logos reserved for Naval recruits. It\u2019s apt, as the vaunted magazine writer has been doing battle with Donald Trump<\/a> since 2019 \u2013 when she accused the president of sexual assault sometime between 1995 and 1996 in New York City.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe joins two other women in accusing Trump of that crime over the years, though two separate cases brought by Carroll (one for defamation, the other for sexual assault) were the only to be tried in court. Her journey through the accusations and eventual victory \u2013 totaling close to $90 million in damages awarded by a jury \u2013 are the subject of \u201cAsk E Jean,\u201d an official selection of the Telluride Film Festival<\/a>, directed by Ive Meeropol. Trump appealed both Carroll cases, and the process is still ongoing. Meeropol is the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, uniquely positioning her to have examined one of the architects of Trump\u2019s rise to power \u2014 Roy Cohn \u2014 in her previous work. <\/p>\n

\n\tVariety sat for a candid conversation with director and subject to discuss the film, one that offers unprecedented access to the process behind the Carroll-Trump fight. The doc includes never-before-seen footage of Carroll\u2019s harrowing deposition led by Alina Habba, Trump\u2019s attorney who is now Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General. It also serves up a fascinating history of Carroll\u2019s legacy as a pioneering female gonzo journalist, a syndicated TV host (on a show greenlit and run by Roger Ailes) and an advice guru whose direction for women did not age as well as she\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the most fascinating parts of this film is you admitting you didn\u2019t like any of the advice you gave to women for decades. You told them to \u201csuck it up and get on with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

E. Jean Carroll: Fifty percent of my answers were bad. I thought I knew everything at the time, particularly about women in the workplace. If you want to get ahead, use your looks. And, of course, that is good advice. But if a man calls you honey bunch and gives you a pat on the rear? Just move right on. Don\u2019t make a fuss, or you won\u2019t get the promotion. Now \u2013 that advice is exactly wrong. \u00a0<\/p>\n

You say that professional adults today have no idea what it was like for a woman in workplace in the \u201890s.\u00a0
EJC: If I had said, \u201cStand up and scream\u201d the minute [any abuse happened], there might have been a bit of a revolution. My advice was wrong.<\/p>\n

Ivy Meeropol: But if you look at something like E. Jean\u2019s syndicated TV show, she was empowering women. She\u2019s telling them, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be married to be a full person.\u201d \u201cYou should go to college.\u201d \u201cYou should have passion in your life.\u201d \u201cYou should work.\u201d It\u2019s a complicated thing, because she was talking about empowerment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I saw some of those old show clips. Do you think the women at the time were waiting for permission, to live full lives and not be defined by men or motherhood?
EJC: That is a deep question. What were women waiting for? What are we waiting for now? What are men waiting for?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some could say there\u2019s a feeling of suspension in the current political climate. No one is being as outspoken as they were during Trump\u2019s first term. Does that feel true?
EJC: I hate to say this, but yeah. We\u2019re waiting because we\u2019re fearful and anxious and worried, but we do have one weapon \u2014 Ivy and all documentary filmmakers. They show you how to step up and speak up. And if an 81-year-old woman can beat Donald Trump? Twice? Anybody can. In the larger picture. I think money is the answer. When the [powers that be] get hit in the pocket book by Trump, that\u2019s going to be it. That moment hasn\u2019t come yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been speculation that your documentary is going to have trouble finding a buyer, given the fears media companies have that Trump will retaliate. Look at what happened last year with \u201cThe Apprentice.\u201d What do you think?\u00a0<\/p>\n

IM:\u00a0I feel like we\u2019re in a different place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

EJC: We are flying [in terms of buyer interest].\u00a0<\/p>\n

IM: We thought about this \u2013 what if we had premiered in January at a festival I will not name? We would have been lost in the show of [Trump\u2019s] inauguration. No one was ready to even think about this, it was a shock for even his supporters. But we\u2019re in a different place today because he\u2019s been doing so much damage on so many levels. People are looking for something to feel that there\u2019s a way out of the madness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA sure sign of authoritarianism is repression of women and censorship and abuse of power. The timing of this film is absolutely important. And people will get to know E. Jean\u2019s entire story. That was always my intent. I did not make this to focus purely on the assault. I wanted to tell E. Jean\u2019s whole story, which helps people understand how this could have happened \u2013 as opposed to people writing it off. Surprisingly, there are many progressives who don\u2019t actually believe what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you think that includes potential distributors for the film?<\/p>\n

EJC: I\u2019m not worried at all. Remember, Ivy is the woman who studied Trump and what made him \u2013 and that was her film \u201cBully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn.\u201d [This film is] a natural progression to finish Trump off.<\/p>\n

Many women in situations like yours, E. Jean, are subject to harassment and death threats \u2013 especially involving someone like Trump. Is that still happening today?\u00a0<\/p>\n

EJC: I have a sludge of garbage coming in everywhere, every minute. But that\u2019s just fine. If that\u2019s the price, I\u2019m willing to pay it. Also, I don\u2019t care if somebody shoots me. You can\u2019t be in documentary films or the arts and think life is going to be easy. If you\u2019re an artist, then you do what you must do. Nothing stopped Ivy. Well, they tried to stop Ivy. Did you know that?\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, say more.
EJC: [My lawyer] Robbie Kaplan, the world\u2019s greatest attorney, told Ivy to stop filming several times.<\/p>\n

IM: There was a time I was showing up, out of money, with my little iPhone in the pouring rain, just to get footage of E. Jean and Robbie doing a presser on the steps of the courthouse. Basically, You can\u2019t shoot a documentary during a trial because the footage can be used as evidence.<\/p>\n

EJC: Another important part of this film is the video of E. Jean\u2019s depositions with Trump\u2019s lawyer. No one has seen those before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those were difficult to watch. How many hours were you deposed?\u00a0<\/p>\n

EJC: Seven, for the first one. Most people don\u2019t know that you have to go to a trial before you go to trial. Yeah. That\u2019s going to be new and interesting for the audience, to watch how they torture you before you go to trial. Alina Habba is a magnificent woman, effervescent and super smart. Didn\u2019t know diddly squat about the law. She\u2019s the one who handled the depositions, but she was brutal. She was making the case that you would make in the 1700s. [Habba\u2019s office did not immediately respond to Variety\u2018s calls for comment]. <\/p>\n

Were you charged with witchcraft?\u00a0
EJC: Basically. Alina is the one who started asking me if I screamed [during the assault] or not \u2014\u00a0 over and over. Ivy caught things that were even more brutal than what went on during the trial. Women will be astounded [when they see the film].<\/p>\n

IM: I\u2019ve always felt the trial took precedent over any film I was making. I wanted to do this right. I didn\u2019t even know that the video depositions could be signed over to me. It was an incredible amount of trust they gave me. But [that blackout period] helped me spend time interviewing E. Jean about her incredible life, work and adventures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

E. Jean, the film mentions briefly that your syndicated show in the \u201890s was made with Roger Ailes. It never comes up again. What was your experience working with him, in light of how is career ended?<\/p>\n

EJC: He\u2019s a great broadcaster. He was a great boss. He could run a network \u2026 he was one of my best friends. I adored Roger. So did Katie Couric. Knowing him personally, he was wonderful. We had no idea that underneath all of this was a cesspool. It\u2019s astonishing. This film is trying to alert the nation that it\u2019s still going on, right in front of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is the Trump administration currently trying to intervene with this documentary, or targeting you in any other way?<\/p>\n

EJC: Not a peep. And that\u2019s with my New York Times bestseller [\u201cNot My Type\u201d] out there right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why do you think that is?\u00a0<\/p>\n

EJC: We haven\u2019t heard from him because he\u2019s before a United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit. Yeah, and he\u2019s going to have to pay me $100 million if he doesn\u2019t behave [The combined settlements from two cases brought against Trump by Carroll awarded her close to $89 million]. And even if he does behave, he\u2019s going to have to pay me. He thinks that he could win if he just shuts up, yeah, but there is no way. Too late.\u00a0 [The White House did not immediately return Variety\u2018s request for comment].<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your relationship to writing right now? What are you working on?\u00a0
EJC: Oh, horrible. I\u2019m in the horrible stage of not knowing what I want to do next. I may write about Telluride!\u00a0
These past few years have observably been an ordeal for you. Where do you find joy?\u00a0<\/p>\n

EJC: Joy? I grab that motherfucker whenever it comes up.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sitting room of E. Jean Carroll\u2019s modest hotel suite in Telluride is washed in muted mountain tones:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,1376,61586,75,54157],"class_list":["post-108414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-donald-trump","tag-e-jean-carroll","tag-entertainment","tag-telluride-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}