Mary Kay Letourneau’s ex-husband slams ‘May December’ film as a ‘rip-off’ of his story

Vili Fualaau, the victim in the widely publicized 1990s rape case involving much-older teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, has spoken out about Netflix’s drama “May December,” for which he served as inspiration. 

Now 40, Fualaau, who was a sixth-grade student of Letourneau’s when she initiated the relationship in 1996, slammed the film, which revolves around a couple whose age gap and treatment from the media mirrored many aspects of his own life.

While “May December” screenwriter Samy Burch has previously said the film “wasn’t the story of Mary Kay Letourneau,” she also said that the real-life case was a “jumping-off point.”

“I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it,” Fualaau told The Hollywood Reporter. 

Fualaau’s attorney did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment. 

Fualaau became the center of tabloid fodder during the 1997 case, in which Letourneau was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for child rape. The two married in 2005 following Letourneau’s stint in prison before eventually splitting up more than a decade later, when Fualaau filed for legal separation. Letourneau died in 2020. 

The film contains several parallels to Fualaau’s story as it follows Joe, a 36-year-old father, played by Charles Melton, who is married to an older woman, Gracie, played by Julianne Moore. The fictional pair, who met while working at a pet store when Joe was a teen, also become the source of media attention and gossip during a highly publicized child rape case. And, similar to what occurred during Letourneau’s imprisonment, the pair in the film have children while Gracie is behind bars. 

Much of the movie follows the couple as they attempt to move forward from their once tabloid-ridden relationship. Television actor Elizabeth, played by Natalie Portman, digs into their past and brings disturbing power dynamics to the surface. The dialogue in one particular scene is taken almost verbatim from a revealing interview between couple Fualaau and Letourneau with Australian journalist Matt Doran. 

Despite the similarities, Fualaau said he was never contacted by Haynes, screenwriter Samy Burch, or Melton, and called the movie a “rip-off” of his story. 

“I’m still alive and well,” Fualaau, told The Hollywood Reporter. “If they had reached out to me, we could have worked together on a masterpiece. Instead, they chose to do a rip-off of my original story.”

Neither Haynes, Burch, nor Melton responded to NBC News’ request for comment. 

Fualaau said he would be open to working with other writers or directors who could better reflect the complicated nature of his story. 

“Those kinds of writers and directors — someone who can do that — would be perfect to work with, because my story is not nearly as simple as this movie [portrays],” he told THR.