{"id":10086,"date":"2025-06-03T03:41:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10086"},"modified":"2025-06-03T03:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:41:19","slug":"parents-blame-shooting-on-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/parents-blame-shooting-on-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents Blame Shooting on Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By James Prichard<\/strong>
Associated Press, 13 April 1999 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — The parents of three students killed during a shooting spree at a Kentucky high school are taking on the entertainment industry, claiming that media violence inspired the boy who fired the shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parents today announced their intent to file a $130 million lawsuit against two Internet porn sites, several computer game companies and the makers and distributors of the 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio film The Basketball Diaries<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suit will be filed in U.S. District Court later today, lawyers said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We intend to hurt Hollywood. We intend to hurt the video game industry. We intend to hurt sex porn sites” on the Internet, said Jack Thompson, one of the parents’ lawyers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit claims that confessed shooter Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old freshman at Heath High School at the time of the Dec. 1, 1997, shootings, was influenced by the violence in The Basketball Diaries<\/em> and by several violent computer games such as Doom<\/em>, Quake<\/em>, and Mortal Combat<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One scene in The Basketball Diaries<\/em> shows a dream sequence in which the main character, played by DiCaprio, guns down his teacher and some of his classmates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suit also claims Carneal shootings, was an avid computer user who logged onto Internet porn sites to view sexually violent material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shooting spree claimed the lives of Jessica James, Kayce Steger and Nicole Hadley and wounded five other students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We believe the Heath shooter was influenced by the movies he watched, the computer games he played and the Internet sites he visited,” Sabrina Steger, Kayce’s mother, told reporters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill last October to nine charges, including three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. In December, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for at least 25 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the defendants listed in the lawsuit are the film’s makers and distributors, including Time Warner Inc. and Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc.; computer game makers Nintendo of America Inc., Sega of America Inc. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.; and the Internet sex sites Network Authentication Systems Inc. and Meow Media Inc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parents also filed a state lawsuit last December charging Carneal, his parents and several administrators, teachers and students at the school with being partly responsible for the shootings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Judge Will Shadoan later dismissed 24 defendants — 19 administrators and teachers and five\u00a0students — from the lawsuit. But the parents have asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reinstate the 24 as defendants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By James PrichardAssociated Press, 13 April 1999  PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — The parents of three students killed during a shooting spree at a Kentucky high school are taking on the entertainment industry, claiming that media violence inspired the boy who fired the shots.  The parents today announced their intent to file a $130 million lawsuit … Continue reading Parents Blame Shooting on Hollywood<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4701,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-10086","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2CG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10067,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/editorial-teen-violence-high-school-shootings-1999\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":0},"title":"EDITORIAL – Teen Violence: High School Shootings (1999)","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately, many people are visiting the Jim Carroll Website and emailing me because of the supposed connection between a scene in the\u00a0Basketball Diaries\u00a0film\u00a0the recent high school massacres in Colorado and Kentucky.In case you are wondering, the scene in question is a dream sequence in which \"Jim\" (Leonardo DiCaprio) strides into\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4701,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":1},"title":"The Basketball Diaries: Controversies","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Film and Book Blamed for Colorado Shootings Carroll's interview on NBC's Today show (5\/6\/99): https:\/\/youtu.be\/fV8zfL5DGhk?si=EYLaiEEiqZRbR2-J Carroll's appearance on Politically Incorrect (6\/8\/99) Complete transcript Linking of 'Basketball Diaries,' Columbine Shootings Upsets Author (5\/6\/99)By Nick Carter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jim Carroll Website Editorial (May 1999)by Cassie Carter, webmaster Columbine: Whose Fault Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fV8zfL5DGhk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10071,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/violent-video-recalled-by-mgm\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":2},"title":"Violent Video Recalled by MGM","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jamie PortmanCalgary Herald, 23 April 1999 Hollywood is suddenly getting nervous over charges that its product is fostering real-life violence. In the wake of Tuesday's massacre of 13 people at a Colorado high school, MGM has announced that it is recalling all video copies of the 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10751,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-forced-entries\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":3},"title":"Behind Forced Entries","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Right now I am organizing my files. I intend to just add the files I find related to Forced Entries as I find them . . . Mysterious Laser Beam Was Art, Not Attack - The New York TimesDownload","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10074,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/making-media-a-familiar-scapegoat\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":4},"title":"Making Media a Familiar Scapegoat","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Howard RosenbergLos Angeles Times, 23 April 1999 After presenting Terror in Littleton like a blockbuster ratings-sweeps production, TV has become one of its casualties. That's because some myopic Americans see media as the root of all evil. The mantra: If it's bad, television--or the movies--caused it. This becomes their\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4369,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/stories-from-dennis-driscoll\/dennys-o-d\/","url_meta":{"origin":10086,"position":5},"title":"Denny’s O.D.","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Stories from Dennis DriscollBy Dennis Driscoll It was a warm July morning. July 6, 1971. For my birthday my parentsgot me tickets to see Grand Funk Railroad at Shea Stadium. Bythis time I was pretty much over grand Funk, but the tickets werea present and my younger brother, Kenny, was\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10087,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10086\/revisions\/10087"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=10086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}