A new series in development at Amazon explores the theme that one never really knows what goes on behind closed doors. Assume Nothing is based on Tanya Selvaratnam’s memoir of the same name and tells the true story of how she survived domestic abuse at the hand of her partner the powerful New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
This series is a joint production of Joanna Coles Productions, Purple Pebble Pictures, ABC Signature, and Amazon. Joanna Coles, Jessica Whitaker, Mary Rohlich, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas will serve as executive producers. Author Selvaratnam is also on board to produce.
Chopra Jonas is currently in talks to star in the series in addition to performing.
Selvaratnam’s story could be considered a real-life Big Little Lies. From an outsider’s perspective, no one would have guessed her relationship with Schneiderman was abusive. He advocated for women’s rights professionally and prosecuted Harvey Weinstein after all. Selvaratnam also never believed that she would become a victim but wants to share her story to show the world violence against women can happen to anyone.
She also was instrumental in taking down Schneiderman, telling her truth to The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow. This would ultimately lead to him being replaced by Letitia James who became the first female attorney general of the state of New York.
Yasmeen Hassan, the Global Executive Director of Equality Now, praised Selvaratnam’s bravery and memoir. “Selvaratnam very bravely and compellingly uses her personal experience to shine a light on the global crisis of violence against women. An important book for the women’s rights movement, Assume Nothing demonstrates that violence against women exists across race, class, economic status, and education levels, and may be perpetrated by those we think of as allies! It dispels the myth that there are certain types of victims and perpetrators. It will help a lot of people, and particularly those who hesitate to identify as a victim/survivor for fear of losing their grounding both publicly and privately,” she stated.
One can infer the limited series will only continue the important work of the memoir and spread Selvaratnam’s story even further.
