The subject of a global media frenzy in the early 1990s, Lorena Bobbitt says she “didn’t choose to be in the spotlight” in one of several new interviews featured in “Lorena,” a four-part documentary series that re-examines her troubling case.
Audiences got their first look at “Lorena,” produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele, on Tuesday with the release of a new trailer. The series promises to give audiences a “fresh perspective” on its titular subject, who cut off the penis of her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, in 1993. After the penis was surgically reattached, Lorena was charged with malicious wounding.
The series, directed by Joshua Rofé, is slated to have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 29 before being released on Amazon Prime Feb. 15. Featuring interviews with both Lorena and her now ex-husband, the series aims to expose how the case “laid the groundwork for the modern 24-hour news cycle” and challenge “the long-held narrative that surrounded” it, according to press notes.
After signing on to produce the project last year, Peele said he was “honored” to help Lorena tell her side of the infamous case.
“When we hear the name ‘Bobbitt’ we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full-blown media spectacle,” the writer and director of “Get Out” said in April. “With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse, and her demand for justice.”
A jury acquitted Lorena of the charge she faced, ruling in 1994 that she had been temporarily insane. In the years since her acquittal, she has worked to help victims of domestic violence through her charity, Lorena’s Red Wagon.
“I believe I have a purpose in life,” she told HuffPost in 2016. “I won’t be stuck in the past.”
John Wayne, meanwhile, was acquitted of marital sexual assault and went on to star in a series of adult films in the mid-1990s. In 2016, he was profiled on the REELZ series, “Scandal Made Me Famous.”
Earlier this month, the case was also the subject of a “20/20” special titled “The Bobbitts: Love Hurts.”