‘Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano’

Producer/Director John Pappas
Reporters Rachel Abrams and Liz Day

Watch our new two-part documentary on Friday, March 10 at 10 p.m. on FX and Hulu.

“To tell the story of Anthony Pellicano in the ’90s,” Rachel Abrams, a Times reporter, said in a new documentary by The New York Times, “is to tell the story of how powerful people behave when they don’t think that anybody is watching.”

Mr. Pellicano was, in his own words, the “prince of darkness” and a “sin eater,” hired by Hollywood’s most powerful and moneyed — including lawyers, businessmen, comedians, actors and singers — to dig up dirt on their adversaries and make their problems go away.

Think of any major scandal in the 1990s, and it’s most likely that Mr. Pellicano was somehow involved — he’s claimed involvement in the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the O.J. Simpson trial. And in the early ’90s, he played a key role in the Michael Jackson child molestation case, working for the singer’s camp to discredit accusations of sexual assault leveled against him.

Some of the tactics that Mr. Pellicano employed — namely wiretapping and racketeering — landed him in prison. Now he’s out, and he’s talking.

Through conversations with Mr. Pellicano, his victims and associates, and using audio recordings of Hollywood stars and power brokers that have never aired publicly, our two-part documentary explores who Mr. Pellicano is, how he operated and in whose interest.

Supervising Producer: Liz Hodes
Consulting Producer Allison Hope Weiner
Co-Producer Jennifer Luby
Director of Photography Victor Tadashi Suarez
Video Editor Marlon Singleton

“The New York Times Presents” is a series of documentaries representing the unparalleled journalism and insight of The New York Times, bringing viewers close to the essential stories of our time.