Netflix Paid the Family of ‘The Watcher’ for Their Story, But Not Jeffrey Dahmer’s Victims’ Families — Find Out Why

Ryan Murphy secured two instant Netflix top 10 hits with DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and now The Watcher. Both true crime dramas depict actual events, but the streaming giant only paid the family for the rights to The Watcher, not DAHMER. The depiction of the serial killer by Evan Peters received mixed reviews and severe backlash, but it’s also in Netflix’s top 5 most watched series list. The Watcher is significantly less controversial but quickly climbs the ranks behind DAHMER. So, why did Netflix have to pay for the rights to The Watcher but not DAHMER?

Netflix paid somewhere under $400,000 for the rights to ‘The Watcher’

Neighbors of 657 Boulevard speculated that the Broadduses took home close to $10 million for the rights to the true story of The Watcher. Before moving into their dream home, the family received three threatening letters from an anonymous person, “The Watcher.” The individual claimed to be watching over the house and looking for “fresh blood.” Since the family had three children mentioned by the author in the second letter, they did not move into the home. Deadline reported that Netflix won the intense bidding war over the story. Six studios fought it out, so the family must have made a killing, right?

Sadly, the money they made from selling the story didn’t cover the losses of selling their house. The family never moved into their home at 657 Boulevard because the first threatening letter from the Watcher came only three days after closing. Instead, they tried to sell the house, but once word got out about the terrifying letters, no one wanted to purchase it. The Broadduses did not successfully sell the house until 2019.

The Cut reported that the Broadduses bought their dream home for $1.35 million in 2014 but sold it for only $959,000 in 2019. They lost approximately $400,000, so Netflix paid the family somewhere below that number.

For comparison, Netflix paid Anna Sorokin (Delvey) $320,000 for the rights to her story. So, the Broadduses probably made somewhere in that ballpark. Although the money from the story helped the family, it didn’t even touch the expenses the Broadduses incurred from paying $100,000 in property taxes for five years, utility bills, home insurance, renovations, and private investigators — all for a home they never lived in.

Netflix did not contact the families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims before producing the true crime drama

The letters in The Watcher are nearly verbatim to the actual letters, just like Rita Isbell’s statement in court is practically word-for-word in DAHMER. Dahmer murdered 17 men between 1978 and 1991, many of whom were gay men of color. Errol Lindsey was 19 years old when Dahmer killed him in April 1991. In the true crime drama, Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell (played by DaShawn Barnes), confronts her brother’s murderer in court. The moment, in episode 8, is nearly identical to a clip of Isbell’s testimony, available on YouTube. However, Netflix did not pay Isbell or even contact her before the drama hit the streamer. Other family members came forward to express the same grief over the series.

“I don’t see how they can do that. I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there,” the mother of Tony Hughes told The Guardian.

Why did Netflix pay the family for ‘The Watcher’ story but not the families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims?

The sad truth of the matter is that Netflix did not need to contact the families of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims because the statements they made were public records. All court records and footage are publicly available and fair for the entertainment world to use without permission. It might not be ethical, but it is legal. However, The Watcher needed permission to use the letters in their dramatization because the family kept them private. 

All seven episodes of The Watcher are available for streaming on Netflix. Additionally, all 10 episodes of DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story are currently streaming on Netflix.