HBO on Tuesday released the trailer for their upcoming documentary on the life of controversial attorney and fixer
Roy Cohn.
The documentary —
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn — is directed by
Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of
Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg, who were prosecuted by Cohn in the
Rosenberg Spy Trial, later resulting in the couple’s execution in 1953. It tells Cohn’s story from his time as chief counsel to Sen.
Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to his time as lawyer and political mentor to
Donald Trump. The HBO documentary will also focus on his role as a closeted gay man who advocated against homosexuality before dying while being treated for AIDS in 1986.
According to
Deadline,
Bully. Coward. Victim. features interviews with
John Waters, Cindy Adams, Alan Dershowitz, Nathan Lane, and
Tony Kushner, whose award-winning play
Angels in America features Cohn as a key character.
The documentary highlights how Cohn’s demeanor served as an influence to Trump, noting that the president “fell in love” with the attorney’s tendency to “stand up to the establishment” and to “never admit that you were wrong.”
Cohn also worked as Trump’s personal lawyer and mentor while he was a New York City businessman, and famously
introduced him to political strategist
Roger Stone, who later advised his presidential campaign and was later sentenced to 40 months in prison this February.
Meeropol’s documentary airs on June 19, which marks the 67th anniversary of the execution of her grandparents.
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