The movie is said to have framed Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras as the murderer of his wife.
According to Variety and various Western media outlets, Netflix is facing serious charges of taking advantage of hot subjects through fictional works inspired by real-life events. Most recently, free diver Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras filed a defamation lawsuit to the court in California, USA. He sued the streaming platform for exploiting the life story of him and his wife but distorting the truth, implying he was his wife’s murderer.
“No Limit” tells the fictional story of Pascal Gautier and Roxane Aubrey, who are divers. In the climatic scene, a detail implies that Pascal Gautier intentionally sabotaged his wife’s oxygen tank, causing her to drown while diving.
The scene from “No Limit”
In real life, Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras and Audrey Mestre attained many achievements in free diving. Audrey Mestre died after a diving accident in the Dominican Republic in 2002 due to equipment malfunction. After the incident, speculations and theories were raised, indicating that the husband was directly involved with the death of his wife.
In the lawsuit, Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras accused the film of portraying him as a murderer. “I don’t know how people can do something like that,” adding, “They turned the story around. They put it the way they wanted. That really hurt me.”
Screenwriter and director David M. Rosenthal said that he consulted with an attorney before carrying on with production and did not think there would be a problem with the work. In defense of himself, the director said, “This is a fictionalization of stories that were very much on the public eye — from documentaries to many articles and books about this.” In addition, he said, “What I wrote is fiction, with fictional characters…I’m sure he’s trying to make a buck here by suing Netflix.”
As the documentary was declared “a work of fiction”, any resemblance to real life events is by mere accident. At the end of the movie, the director left a scene with a photo of Audrey Mestre and information about her death.
While Netflix has not officially announced the lawsuit, this is not the first time the platform has been sued for similar issues. Previously, the Korean pseudo-religious organization “The Baby Garden” sued Netflix’s headquarters in the US, demanding compensation of 300 million won for broadcasting a documentary related to this organization.
“In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal” is a documentary that exposes the lives of cult leaders. The documentary series has been receiving mixed opinions from the audience. On the one hand, viewers claim that the series will help raise caution against such a phenomenon. On the other, the series is criticized for its raw materials that can further damage real-life victims.
In 2021, Nona Gaprindashvili, a famous female chess player in the 1960s Soviet Union, filed a lawsuit against Netflix for allegedly smearing her image in the series “The Queen’s Gambit.” This female player demanded compensation worth more than $5 million for commercial contracts affected by the incident. The lawsuit alleged that a line from The Queen’s Gambit, where a character incorrectly stated that she had “never faced men”. Netflix filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming their work was fictional. However, it was rejected.
Source: K14
