The Real 'Lioness' Members Slam Taylor Sheridan's Action Thriller Series
MovieWeb • • entertainment
Key Points:
- The Paramount+ series Lioness, inspired by the real Team Lioness, has drawn criticism from the original women involved for misrepresenting their true experiences during the Iraq War.
- The actual Team Lioness consisted of 19 female support specialists attached to infantry patrols in 2003-2004, engaging in combat without formal training, unlike the show's portrayal involving CIA operatives.
- Veterans like Ranie Ruthig and Michelle Dallocchio accuse the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan, of appropriating and sanitizing their history, effectively erasing their authentic wartime contributions.
- Returning home, many Lionesses struggled with institutional disbelief about their combat roles and PTSD, leading to advocacy that helped end the Department of Defense’s combat exclusion policy in 2013.
- The women fear their real stories are being overshadowed or lost amid dramatized versions, prompting some, like Rebecca Martinez, to disengage from the series entirely.
