Vanity Fair Stands By Controversial Angelina Jolie Story, Releases Transcript Of Interview

Vanity Fair has released a statement in response to the backlash sparked by their story on Angelina Jolie and the controversial audition process of her film, “First They Killed My Father.”

According to the publication, they are standing by the story they released a few days ago after reviewing the audio tape of contributing editor Evgenia Peretz’s interview with Jolie. In her article, Peretz described the casting process for Jolie’s film. The editor revealed that Jolie and her team looked at certain places where children might have experienced actual hardships.

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The editor added that in order to find their lead star, the casting directors acted out a scene from the film with the kids for the audition. They placed money on a table in front of the young talents and asked the children to think of something that they could use the money on, before the cash was snatched away by the kids. Additionally, Peretz said that the children auditioning to be part of the film were asked to come up with a lie while pretending that they have been caught.

A few days after Peretz’s article was published, Jolie released a statement saying that she was upset over the fallout and assuring everyone that the children were treated with utmost care and respect.

“Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort, and well-being of the children starting from the auditions through production to the present. Parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand every day, to ensure everyone had all they needed. And above all to make sure that no one was in any way hurt by participating in the recreation of such a painful part of their country’s history,” she said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.

Meanwhile, Vanity Fair also revealed that Jolie’s lawyer reached out to them earlier this week to ask for corrections in their story. The lawyer also asked Vanity Fair to run a statement that said in part, “The children were not tricked as some have suggested… All of the children auditioning were made aware of the fictional aspect of the exercise and were tended to at all times by relatives or guardians from NGOs. We apologize for any misunderstanding.”

Vanity Fair also published a copy of the transcript from some parts of their interview with Jolie on their official website.