Los Angeles - The makers of Concussion, a forthcoming film about the brain damage controversy that rocked professional American football, have been forced to deny they diluted its content in order to appease the National Football League.
Due for release in December, it stars Will Smith as Dr Bennet Omalu, the forensic neuropathologist who first discovered the degenerative brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in football players who had suffered multiple concussions during their careers.
In 2013, the NFL agreed a $765m (£500m) settlement in a lawsuit brought by some 5,000 retired players who accused the league of deliberately covering up the dangers of repeated head injuries.
On Tuesday, a day after the film's trailer had its debut online, The New York Times published extracts from emails leaked in last year's hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which allegedly showed the studio softening its criticism of the NFL.
Sony marketing president Dwight Caines wrote in an August 2014 email to fellow executives: “We'll develop messaging with the help of NFL consultant (sic) to ensure that we are telling a dramatic story and not kicking the hornets' nest.”
The newspaper also cited an email suggesting “unflattering moments for the NFL” were altered or left out of the film. But a spokesman for Sony refuted the paper's story, saying it contained “many misleading inferences” and adding: “As will become immediately clear to anyone actually seeing the movie, nothing with regard to this important story has been 'softened' to placate anyone.”
Concussion's writer-director Peter Landesman said alterations had been made only to ensure the film was as accurate as possible and would not be left open to attack from the League. For example, a scene showing a senior NFL official participating in a plan to cover up the links between football and CTE was cut from the script because the episode was based on a second-hand account and, Mr Landesman said, he “didn't want to be defamatory”.
The Independent