The public has spoken out against the Lifetime network for their upcoming film based on the murder of Gabby Petito. The cable network is being called “greedy” and “sick” for profiting off of this true-crime case.
“The Gabby Petito Story” is premiering this Saturday, slightly more than a year after the 22-year-old travel blogger was strangled to death by her 23-year-old fiancé Brian Laundrie while they were on a road trip across the country.
Last summer, Petito’s murder gripped the country, and Lifetime announced a two-hour telemovie based on the tragedy: “explore Gabby and Brian’s complicated relationship and what may have gone wrong during their cross-country trip that resulted in Gabby’s tragic murder.”
Many audience members are who at-home detectives will be tuning in, but others are outraged by how quickly the network managed to make the film.
“I can’t believe lifetime is already about to air a Gabby Petito movie. It JUST happened a year ago and they already planned, wrote, and filmed a movie? I highly doubt the family gave their permission. How f–ked up is that?” one woman tweeted.
“Like they really couldn’t wait a few years?? At least?? The family is still grieving, there’s still lawsuits going on, everyone saw it unfold in real time, and these dips–ts really green lit and casted and filmed a a whole ass MOVIE??” she added.
Another dissatisfied person added his two cents.: “F–k Lifetime for making a Gabby Petito movie and how did they even make a full movie? Don’t we not know what happened and never will since he’s dead? They just makin s–t up?”
Critics argued that the film was creating additional pain for Petito’s parents who lost their daughter and are still grieving.
“I feel that instead of Lifetime doing a movie about the murder of Gabby Petito, they can just invest in large vats of salt which they can then pour directly into the very raw and open wounds of Gabby’s friends and family who are still grieving losing her a little over a year ago,” they said.
The Post has attempted to contact Lifetime for comment on whether they attempted to reach out to Petito’s family for the movie.
Lifetime isn’t the only movie network to receive bad publicity for creating films based off of notorious real-life murders. Many argue that it is unethical for companies to profit from such tragedies.
Last week, Netflix was criticized for its 10-part series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” which detailed the grisly murders perpetrated by notorious Wisconsin serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
On July 2, Petito set out on a cross-country journey with Laundrie. After failing to hear from Petito for three weeks, her parents filed a report with the LAPD on September 11.
Laundrie was brought up as a person of interest shortly after, and then he vanished. His disappearance sparked a nationwide manhunt and widespread curiosity about the case.
Petito’s cause of death was strangulation, and her remains were found in a national park in Wyoming.
Laundrie was discovered dead in a park in Florida, where he had shot himself. A notepad nearby his corpse revealed a handwritten note in which he confessed to Petito’s murder.
