Oprah Winfrey is jumping in on the “When They See Us” conversation.
The legendary talk show host will moderate two panels related to the Netflix show to close out the streamer’s Emmy FYSee showcase. Both conversations will be recorded to premiere on Netflix and OWN on Wednesday, June 12 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The first panel will feature Winfrey interviewing the cast of the show, including Niecy Nash, Jharrel Jerome, Michael K. Williams, Joshua Jackson, Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Jovan Adepo, and Chris Chalk. While the second will be a conversation with Ava DuVernay, who co-wrote and directed all four episodes of the limited series, alongside the five exonerated men – Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise – who were wrongly convicted in the 1989 Central Park Five case.
“When They See Us” follows the five when they were young men in the spring of 1989 and were first questioned about the brutal assault of a Caucasian female jogger in New York’s Central Park. The later part of the series follows them as men, spanning 25 years and highlighting their exoneration in 2002 and the settlement they reached with the city of New York in 2014.
“To tell the story of men who had been accused, convicted, punished, jailed, forgotten, re-entered into society as sexual predators — to finally give them a voice, it had to be all about them,” DuVernay told Variety about making the show.