Netflix subscribers have been left shocked by a new true crime documentary, 'Tell Them You Love Me', which some have described as 'too disturbing' to finish. The film, directed by Nick August-Perna and executive produced by Louis Theroux, revisits the controversial case of Anna Stubblefield, a philosophy professor convicted of sexual assault.
In 2009, Stubblefield, then 41, met Derrick Johnson, a 30-year-old non-verbal man with cerebral palsy, through his brother John, who was a student on one of her courses at Rutgers University. Stubblefield offered to help Derrick with facilitated communication, an assisted typing technique. However, their relationship turned sexual, leading to a criminal trial.
Stubblefield claimed the relationship was consensual, but Derrick's mother, Daisy Johnson, argued her son was incapable of such intimacy. In 2015, Stubblefield was found guilty of two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Her conviction was later overturned on a technicality in 2017.
The documentary has sparked strong reactions on social media. One viewer wrote on X: 'Too disturbing for me to continue watch it.' Another said: 'I’ve watched A LOT of documentaries but Tell Them You Love Me was truly some of the sickest s**t I’ve ever seen.' A third added: 'The Tell Them You Love Me doc was the most disgusting thing I've seen.'
'Tell Them You Love Me' is available to stream on Netflix now.
