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A documentary about E. Jean Carroll’s long legal battle with Donald Trump is reaching theaters at the precise moment the Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into her — a collision of art and current events the film’s producers could not have scripted.
Ask E. Jean, directed by Ivy Meeropol and produced by Oscar-nominated producer Laura Bickford, chronicles Carroll’s life from cheerleader and magazine columnist to the 82-year-old writer who defeated Trump in court twice. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages in 2023 after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, and the following year won $83 million in a defamation case. Both sums remain in escrow pending appeals.
The film’s release this week coincides with a Justice Department probe announced days ago. Federal prosecutors are investigating Reid Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic, which made contributions partially used for Carroll’s legal expenses. The inquiry examines whether Carroll committed perjury in a 2022 deposition when she said she had no outside legal funding. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has already rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to raise the same perjury argument, finding no evidence Carroll was personally involved in securing or even knew about the funding. Hoffman called the investigation an effort to silence those who stand up to Trump.
For the filmmakers, the probe — and the difficulty finding anyone willing to distribute the film — illustrates exactly what the documentary is about. Major distributors passed on the project, and producer Bickford attributed the rejections to corporate self-interest rather than audience indifference. She argued that larger media companies with regulatory concerns under the current administration chose not to risk retaliation by releasing a film critical of the president. The film went forward via self-distribution through Abramorama.
The production began in 2019 when Carroll agreed to participate, and went through many versions — including one the filmmakers found was too Trump-heavy before the trials had even taken place. The shape of the film crystallised around a deposition moment in which Carroll, asked why she would accuse a president knowing what it would cost her, answered plainly: “Because he called me a liar.”
The film played at Telluride last fall before its theatrical run. Carroll’s memoir, published in June, debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list.
