Inspired by the #MeToo movement, E. Jean Carroll came forward about her sexual assault in 2019. However, her story has never been more timely, as depicted in Ivy Meeropol’s documentary Ask E. Jean, available on VOD October 15.
Like many Americans, director Ivy Meeropol didn’t know a lot about E. Jean Carroll until she made the sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump. But once she read the 2019 New York Magazine story detailing what happened at Bergdorf Goodman, she knew she had to meet this woman and try to make a film about her.
“It was her voice,” said Meeropol. “It was her writer’s voice. Because she was so unapologetic […] talking about sexual assault. And I thought this is a voice we need. And we don’t often hear also from older women about their experiences.”
She Thought It was ‘Funny’ at First
But of course, Carroll didn’t believe she was assaulted at first. As Meeropol shows in her documentary Ask E. Jean, the advice columnist and gonzo journalist thought it was “funny.” It wasn’t until she had a conversation with her friend that she realized what had actually taken place.
“It’s really instructive and important for all of us who are younger generations and even younger than my generation to recognize what that was like and maybe not be as judgmental and try to understand,” said Meeropol. “And that’s what’s important to us to include the things that maybe are uncomfortable and that E. Jean is not so proud of anymore. But to understand what it was like when she and Lisa Birnbach are having their conversation. They described it as like going to war; you have to accept that this is your fate, and this is just how we have to manage men. There was no other recourse. And for E. Jean to be willing to be so honest about [laughing at first]. So many women can relate to that. [Laughing] is a shield.”
Chasing a Good Story about a Real Estate Tycoon
When Carroll describes the situation with Donald Trump in Bergdorf Goodman’s department store, many writers, too, would have followed him into the dressing room—to chase a good story.
“It begins as a fun [encounter]. Here’s Donald Trump, this freewheeling guy, as she described him, and he’s asking for advice. And it’s an evening in New York City at Bergdorf Goodman, and he wants help from this advice lady. They have fun banter right off the get-go. And I think it was so important to do a film because the news headlines could never capture this. And it’s so easy for people to say what a ridiculous story. But if you take it step by step the way we did with her description, and then shift into how she had to describe it in the deposition, where it becomes the horror that he turned like that on a dime, and she had no idea. She didn’t see it coming.”
Watch the full interview below. Ask E. Jean is available on VOD October 15.
