Mom who famously claimed she was abducted by aliens says Netflix made her look like a liar in new docuseries

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A New York City mother of two who shared her controversial story of being abducted by aliens from her downtown apartment in an upcoming Netflix docu-series says the streaming giant ended up portraying her as a fabulist — and now she’s fighting back to block the release of the show.

Linda Napolitano, who first told her story under the pseudonym Linda Cortile, has long claimed that in the wee hours of November 30, 1989, three gray two-legged beings took her from her 12th-floor window on a beam of blue light and lifted her onto a reddish-orange spacecraft speeding off toward the Brooklyn Bridge.

The late artist-turned-UFO investigator Budd Hopkins championed Napolitano’s story in the 1997 book Witness: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abductionwhich creates widespread interest and of course some scepticism. Hopkins said he became further convinced Napolitano was telling the truth after he received a letter from two bodyguards who said they had been nearby protecting an unnamed “world leader” when they saw a woman floating through the night sky into an alien. More than 20 other witnesses claimed they also witnessed Napolitano’s alleged abduction.

Now Napolitano, 77, is trying to block Netflix from releasing its take on the alleged incident, Manhattan Alien Abductionset to premiere Wednesday, claims it presents “a tale of skepticism” and an investigation into Napolitano’s “pulling the wool over (Hopkins’) eyes” rather than a credulous recitation of her claims, according to an eye-popping lawsuit obtained by The independent.

“A woman claims to have been abducted from her bedroom in Manhattan,” reads a Netflix promo. “This documentary series examines whether it was an elaborate hoax – or evidence of alien life.”

In an email, an appreciative Napolitano seemed eager to provide further details about the situation, but said, “Apparently my lawyer doesn’t want me to comment,” and provided his email and phone number.

Reached by phone Tuesday, attorney Robert Young said The independent that Napolitano was “terribly deceived” and would never have participated in the production if she had known how it would turn out in the end.

“So we’ll see,” Young said. “Litigation is a long war, many battles, and I have every confidence that in the end we will prevail.”

Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.

Napolitano, according to her complaint, was slandered on screen by Hopkins‘ late ex-wife, who she claims is a “bitter, alcoholic ex-wife hell-bent on revenge against her husband.”

This mini-series was the ex’s “last dying act of revenge to get even with her ex-husband, rather than expose the actual truth as researched and written about… in Witnessed“, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday in New York Supreme Court.

Hopkins’ ex was said to have been bothered by her husband’s “non-compliance with discreditable elements” in Napolitano’s story. In 2011, Hopkins’ ex-wife published an article that debunked the idea of ​​alien abductions and crippled his research methodology. To that end, psychiatrists who have studied the phenomenon say there are several reasons why people may believe they have been abducted by aliens, such as those suffering from Fantasy Prone Personality Disorder or sexual assault survivors who create so-called screen memories to block out the trauma of what they endured.

The London-based producers of the film, Napolitano’s complaint alleges, assured her that they planned to tell “the true story of the abduction of Linda,” as described in the pages of Hopkins’ book. This, according to the complaint, led Napolitano, who says she had long been reluctant to appear on film, to believe that her version of events “was, in fact, finally going to be presented.”

However, Napolitano insists she was misled from the start. Producers went with a different version of what she agreed to, instead setting up Hopkins’ ex as “an expert ‘skeptic’ in this field.” Her questioning of Napolitano’s account only served to “cast bias” on her, with “scripted dialogue” supporting what she says was a false narrative, the complaint states, further targeting the “unflattering and demeaning” costumes , Napolitano got to wear. on the screen.

Hopkins’ ex-wife, according to Napolitano’s complaint, provided the filmmakers with his personal papers, notes and videos about her alleged abduction, but also “forged a letter … in which she claimed (Napolitano) said the whole incident was a hoax.” But Napolitano claims Hopkins’ ex, who died in 2023, “stole” the materials he had on her case after the two separated but still lived in the same home. (The two divorced in 2006.)

Napolitano says she never would have taken part in the project if she had known the producers would rely on “false representations” of what she insists happened to her and that they preyed on her naivety about filmmaking to get her to cooperate. She did not realize anything was wrong until a staff member attended a mid-September screening of the miniseries in the UK, the complaint said.

Napolitano’s complaint states, among other things, that she was shown “in a grotesque and unusual way, in unflattering clothes that were not her own style of clothing, making her appear old and worn out, and that her hair is put in a unusual way not her own, thus everything done by her appearing not as her own self, but as a caricature, an almost cartoonish character.” She claims she was forced to read from a script and made to be a liar, based on the confession she now insists she never made.

In her complaint, Napolitano argues that she was created as a “villain for the purposes of controversy and conflict,” supporting a narrative she says will “expose her to shame and ridicule and destroy her reputation as an honest and decent person, who experienced the abduction and only agreed to have this documentary about her experience told truthfully… for the very first time.”

Napolitano claims defamation and fraud, with punitive and exemplary damages to be determined in court. She insists that the final result was “obviously false” and that the producers never intended to “present (showcase) a documentary ‘based on a true story’.” Overall, Napolitano’s complaint alleges that their conduct was “reckless, fraudulent, oppressive, and despicable,” and if the miniseries is released, “no compensation” could potentially undo the reputational damage she would suffer.

Napolitano is demanding a judge issue a restraining order to block Netlifx from airing Manhattan Alien Abductionmake public comments or issue press releases as to why it was cancelled, or post any explanations on social media. Napolitano’s lawyers said a decision is expected on Wednesday.