On June 29, 2026, The Supreme Court of the United States gave a final rejection of Donald Trump’s futile attempt to throw out the 5 million dollar verdict handed down by a 2023 Manhattan federal jury after finding Trump criminally liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. SCOTUS refused to hear the appeal. Three years after the jury ruled in Carroll’s favor, the money (plus interest) was released. Carroll plans to use the money to create a foundation for women’s rights. Justice, though stalled, was done. Ivy Meeropol’s documentary, Ask E. Jean, rescues its subject from the tabloid fodder; reshaping the ugly narrative around her Herculean legal battle with truth and conviction.
E. Jean Carroll is a respected New York journalist and contributing editor for Elle magazine who, in 1996, was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump in a dressing room at New York City’s Bergdorf Goodman department store. Since the conviction, this is no longer considered “alleged”. That Donald Trump sexually assaulted Carroll is now undisputed fact. Carroll spoke of the reason she stayed silent for so long. Fear of retribution due to Trump’s frightening power and connections kept her from speaking out. When #MeToo became a global movement in 2017, Carroll was inspired by its power and by the thunderous fall of Harvey Weinstein. In 2019, she publicly accused Trump of sexual assault in a New York magazine article titled, My List of Hideous Men.
Ask E. Jean shows the cost of accusing such a morally bankrupt man in a position of power. Carroll’s accusation and impending court battles failed to have the immediate impact one would expect. The cult of Trump never questioned their leader, thus turning their ire to the victim as Trump repeatedly defamed her. Carroll wasn’t bothered by this cretin’s constant attacks on her looks. It was when he called her a liar that would make Carroll’s blood boil the strongest. For a woman of principle who spent a career getting to the truth, this was the defamation that would cause her to fight.
One powerful moment shows Carroll going through the thousands of threats (many promising violence) sent to her by Trump’s cultist disciples. Where Donald Trump’s denials and defamations are absolutely sickening, it is the revelation of these vile threats against Carroll’s life that become the most disturbing.
In an October 2022 deposition, Carroll is asked why, if she was afraid of being “dragged through the mud”, would she choose to sue Donald Trump. Her answer? “Because he called me a liar and I couldn’t let it stand.”
E. Jean Carroll has always been a no-bullshit truth teller and she has over 50 years of acclaimed journalistic integrity to back it up. Impressively laid out by director Meeropol, the film uses a treasure trove of archival images. Coupled with Carroll’s own recollections (she is one hell of a storyteller), this wealth of information allows viewers to understand what made Carroll’s contributions to journalism and advice columns so groundbreaking, unique, and sometimes controversial. Calling both Anita Hill and Paula Jones “wimps” for not standing up to their aggressors was the very definition of a “hot take.”
The documentary gives great insight to the strength of E. Jean Carroll’s character. As inspiring it is to witness Carroll use her career to fight for women, there is a melancholy to her story. Carrol was so traumatized by Trump’s sexual assault that it fractured her once-healthy sex drive and caused her to feel like a hypocrite. On her 90’s advice show, she used her airtime to empower women and try to help them find their identities, yet she couldn’t bring herself to confront her attacker for 30 years.
Ivy Meeropol doesn’t need to rely on fancy directorial flourishes. The style is straightforward, as the subject speaks for herself. Carroll’s power is nothing short of intoxicating. Such a commitment to putting oneself out there in the most unfiltered version allows the director to stylistically rest. Her film is in good hands. Meeropol’s ship sails on smooth cinematic waters. The director knows what to show and when to show it. This is factual and informative documentary filmmaking at its finest.
Carroll has been through dark moments. For all of her life and career highs, she forever carries with her the dark memory of being sexually assaulted by Donald Trump. One can only imagine how defeated Carroll must have felt when watching America re-elect Trump. One couldn’t imagine. The fact that Carroll lives in a country where the man convicted of sexually assaulting her sits in the Oval Office has not seen her bend the knee to defeat. She is a survivor whose story will give hope to women everywhere who exist in a world of powerful men who face no consequence for their crimes.
Of the many lessons taken from Ask E. Jean, the most important comes from the subject herself; “Take pride in your nonconformity. That’s where your power comes. Fate loves the fearless.”
Is E. Jean Carroll deserving of being revered as a hero and icon of the #MeToo movement? Absolutely right.
And Donald Trump still owes her 83 million dollars.
Ask E. Jean
Directed by Ivy Meeropol
NR, 91 Minutes, Concordia Studios, Flora Films, Impact Partners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eENwmZJuDTI