Niecy Nash-Betts Tearfully Responds to ‘Dahmer’ Backlash
Niecy Nash-Betts is reflecting on all the criticism aimed at Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, in which she portrays the serial killer’s neighbor and whistleblower Glenda Cleveland. And her perspective on the show’s sensitive material is quite personal.
“My brother was murdered on his high school campus,” she tearfully told Variety in a new cover story. “And you never forget. You’re reminded if you pass a cemetery, by a favorite song, a smell, memory, photo. If you have had a loved one die in a horrific way, it is going to be with you for the rest of your life, not just from a TV show. So the goal would be, how do people remember them?”
Despite the miniseries’ record-breaking ratings and awards buzz (Nash-Betts is forecast to receive an Emmy nomination for her role in July), Dahmer became the subject of intense backlash from viewers and relatives of the killer’s victims when it premiered last fall. Among other complaints, many accused Netflix and the show’s creator, Ryan Murphy, of exploiting Dahmer’s primarily Black and brown male victims for entertainment.