Jamie Foxx plays controversial high-profile attorney Willie Gary in The Burial, an Amazon Studios film.
The Burial tells the story of how Gary helped Biloxi resident Jeremiah O’Keefe win a $500 million jury verdict.
But some of Gary’s ex-clients say he scammed them out of millions of dollars.
Ernestine Elliott lost her daughter, Katrina, in a 2014 car crash on a Georgia highway. She said Gary promised her a billion-dollar settlement. But he missed a deadline in the lawsuit against Nissan, and the case was dropped.
Elliott said 2 years passed before Gary informed her the lawsuit was dismissed. She eventually received a settlement check for $62,642.79 — after Gary took his cut.
Insider.com found dozens of Gary’s former clients and spoke with six them on the record. Some of the women, including a former secretary, accused Gary of sexual misconduct and rape.
Gary, who was married with 4 adult children, fathered twins with Atlanta-resident Diana Gowins in 2000.
Gowins (right) played NeNe Leakes’ bestie on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
In 2005, a judge granted Gowins $28,000 a month in child support for her twins. But Gary petitioned the court to lower his child support due to a “change in circumstances.” He also complained that Gowins was “misusing” the money to improve her lifestyle.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Wright agreed with Gary that Gowins did not need $28,000 a month for two children. She lowered Gary’s child support payments to just $5,000 a month.
Judge Wright also ordered Gowins – a former nurse – to “get a job.”
However, another judge later reinstated the $28,000 a month child support for Gowins’ twins.
Gary was pleased with Foxx’s portrayal of him in the movie. A private screening was arranged for Gary and his friends and family in Raleigh, North Carolina on Oct. 24.
Foxx “nailed it big time” said Gary, who makes a cameo appearance in the film.
“Jamie Foxx is without a doubt, one of the best in the business,” he added.
But Gary’s former clients are disgusted that he is being portrayed as an icon of “family, fairness, and basic decency,” according to one film critic.
“I want to vomit when I open my email and I see all the advertisements with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones,” said Luisa Esposito, who accused Gary of mishandling her case against a man who groped her. “Maybe there’ll be a part two, where all the evidence comes out about how he stole millions.”
Watch the movie trailer below.
