The now-exonerated Central Park Five, the five men who were wrongfully accused of raping and brutally beating a female jogger in 1989, have stepped out at the 71st Emmy Awards, accompanying writer-director Ava DuVernay.
The five men, now known as the Exonerated Five, are the subject of When They See Us, DuVernay's mini-series which follows the horrifying story of the young men - Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Yusef Salaam - as they were eventually tried and jailed for a crime they did not commit.
Speaking at a panel for the four-part Netflix series in August, DuVernay had said that when she invited the men to the event, they hadn't even heard of the Emmys. "Literally I had to explain to them what it was, for one of them I had to say, 'It's like the Grammys, but TV.'"
While the men had their convictions overturned in 2002, and received a US$41m settlement in 2014, they've struggled to shake the Central Park Five title. DuVernay hopes When They See Us will help the media see the men for the individuals they are.
"'Central Park Five' I associate with a moniker that was given to these men and thrust upon them. They did not choose it and it's not who they are," she said of not having the moniker in the series' title. "They are Korey, Antron, Raymond, Kevin and Yusef. They have mothers, they have dreams, they have families, they have beating hearts and are human beings and they're not this moniker, and I didn't want it."
When They See Us is nominated for 10 Emmy Awards.
