As the buzz around “Chappaquiddick” picks up, one of the forthcoming film’s executive producers says efforts were made to stop it from being released. “Chappaquiddick” examines the role of former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, who was killed in the summer of 1969 when the senator drove his car off a bridge and fled the scene.
According to Variety, Byron Allen, CEO of Entertainment Studios and an executive producer of the movie, divulged at a recent screening of “Chappaquiddick” that pushback to the project started early. “Unfortunately, there are some very powerful people who tried to put pressure on me not to release this movie,” he reportedly claimed.
“They went out of their way to try and influence me in a negative way,” said Allen. “I made it very clear that I’m not about the Right, I’m not about the Left. I’m about the truth.” Having seen the film, I would say that’s a fair description of its approach to tragedy. And unfortunately for the Kennedys, “the truth” is not all that flattering.
Though powerful allies of the Kennedys may be less than pleased with film, the Kopechne family says they’re “happy more information is coming out.”
“For 49 years people have wanted to know what happened,” Kopechne’s aunt, Georgetta Potoski, told People this week. “Maybe now Mary Jo will be brought to the forefront and remembered not just for how she died but for who she was.”
