Karen Read Denounces Elizabeth Banks’ Prime Video Series: “Not Authorized By Me”
Karen Read is making it crystal clear—she has nothing to do with the upcoming Prime Video limited series about her high-profile case, despite reports that Elizabeth Banks is attached to star and produce.
Speaking out publicly for the first time since her June acquittal, Read told talk radio host Howie Carr that she hasn’t been consulted on the project at all. “I have nothing to do with that; it’s not authorized by me in any way,” she said. “I’ve never spoken to her. I have not blessed this, no.”
Her attorney, Alan Jackson, echoed the frustration, adding, “At the end of the day, this is Karen Read’s story to tell; it’s not Hollywood’s story to make up … It’s a shame she was never even contacted.”
Read explained that she only “heard through the grapevine” that Banks was interested in playing her but has never been approached directly. “She knows who our contacts are. Yeah, we’re not hard to find,” she noted.
The project, announced earlier this week by Deadline, will be co-developed by Prime Video and Warner Bros. Television. It’s based on the Law & Crime and Wondery podcast Karen, with Justin Noble set as showrunner and David E. Kelley also attached as an executive producer.
The series is expected to dramatize the events surrounding the February 2022 death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, Read’s boyfriend, who was found in a snowbank outside a home after a party. The case sparked nationwide debate—was it a tragic accident or something darker?
After a mistrial in 2024, Read was retried in 2025. She was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter but convicted of driving under the influence, receiving a year of probation. The divisive case split her Massachusetts community, with some insisting she was guilty and others believing she was framed in a cover-up.
Looking ahead, Read and Jackson said they’re weighing a civil lawsuit. “Nothing’s off the table, and no one’s off the table,” her attorney said.
Meanwhile, Read is moving forward with her own project—partnering with LBI Productions and her defense team to tell her side of the story on screen.
