Social media platform company Facebook, Inc. FB could be going “Crazy” if what it thinks is a “Toxic” docuseries about the company hits the small screen.
What Happened: A book about Facebook called “An Ugly Truth” is being adapted into a television series called “Doomsday Machine.”
Facebook believes the series, which stars Claire Foy as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, is full of misinformation and could damage the company’s brand.
Mathew S. Rosengart, who recently helped Britney Spears fight against conservatorship, is representing Facebook.
“Doomsday Machine” is set to tackle the role Facebook played in misinformation during the 2016 Presidential Election and recent controversies, according to a The Verge report.
Facebook is threatening Anonymous Content, the producer of the upcoming series, with a lawsuit if it continues to work on the show with plans to release it to the public.
“The First Amendment does not protect knowingly false statements or portrayals — or those made with reckless disregard for the truth — even about public figures,” Rosengart said in a letter to Anonymous Content obtained by Deadline.
Facebook and its lawyer accuse the book of being full of “false and defamatory statements, characterizations and implications about Facebook and its leadership.”
Facebook said via its lawyer to Anonymous Content it was willing to work together to make sure the series is “accurate and truthful.”
Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg
Why It’s Important: Rosengart recently fought for Britney Spears in a well-publicized case. His name attached to Facebook could serve as a scare tactic for the social media company.
Along with Spears, Rosengart has represented Sean Penn, Steven Spielberg, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Vedder and Jimmy Butler. Penn praised Rosengart as a “tough as nails streetfighter with a big brain and bigger principles.”
The Spears story and battle against her father was highly publicized and was also featured in a couple of screen adaptations. Netflix Inc NFLX premiered a documentary, “Britney Vs Spears," on Sept. 28 and Hulu released “Controlling Britney Spears” as a nine-episode series.
While it is known Foy is set to portray Sandberg, no decision has been announced as to who would play Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the series.
Jesse Eisenberg portrayed Zuckerberg in the 2010 film “The Social Network.” That movie was based on a book called “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich.
Zuckerberg criticized the film for many inaccuracies.
“It’s interesting what stuff they focused on getting right, like, every single shirt and fleece that I had in the movie is actually a shirt or fleece that I own. So there’s all this stuff that they got wrong and a bunch of random details that they got right,” Zuckerberg said.
FB Price Action: Facebook shares are down 4.27% to $314.66 Tuesday afternoon.
Image: Cover of "An Ugly Truth"; Britney Vs Spears, Netflix
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